Emperor Of Void Dragon
by Midgarson
Summary: Louise want a dragon no?Let's give her one, a Emperor of Dragon a Sekiryutei.A Sekiryutei full of mistery and dark past and with a world where his curse don't folow him.
1. Sekiryutei and Zero

Louise want a dragon no? So let's give her an emperor dragon of Sekiryutei. Let's see a emperor become a slave!

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Darkness That's all I see from my perspective. No one is around me. Not a living soul. I'm Hiraga Saito, a Sekiryutei or better put, was partnered up with Ddraig. He's dead as he sacrificed his own soul to save me. He gave me all his power but for what? To be cursed here for all eternity?! I don't regret that I was able to save my friends and my world but it's been more than six thousand years since it happened.I just want to go and see the world again but is it even possible for that to occur? As I continued to think these situations in my head, a green light started to repel the darkness. I looked in shock not knowing what is going on.

_ Meanwhile_

"Miss Valliere! May I ask you why you have not summoned yet? A red haired woman with tan skin mocked the pink haired girl wondering why she was stalling. "I myself would love to see what kind of familiar you would summon to make my salamander look so inferior that is wouldn't hold a candle to your own." Her tone was filled with superiority showing that she won't bow her head to someone lower than her.

If Louise was smart, she wouldn't have even dared challenge any mage with any kind of magical ability. Unfortunately that was not the case. Louise was stubborn, stubborn enough to want to prove to everyone that she was no zero like her nickname suggested. Her pride was too big to accept defeat and she can only hope she would be able to summon a familiar that can rival if not best her salamander. She gripped her wand tightly clenching her teeth as she glared at her

"I will never lose myself to you Kirche! You and your lewd ways will never match up to me!" boasted Louise

"Then prove that your bite is as good as your bark or else you will just remain a Zero like your nickname" laughed Kirche.

At this point Louise was really ticked off, and since she had no comeback she simply walked towards the summoning circle ignoring any outside words trying to focus on the task at hand. Mr Colbert, who was a teacher overseeing the summoning, nodded to show his approval of the summoning ritual and the circle that Louise had stepped in had started glow/

"I beg of you… My slave who lives somewhere in the universe! Oh sacred, beautiful and strong familiar spirit! I desire and here I plead from my heart! Answer to my guidance!" chanted Louise while she pleaded in her head that the spell would not result in an explosion 'Please let it be a dragon, a griffin a cat or a dog don't care just prove I am not a Zero!'

A green and crimson light flooded from the middle of the circle before blinding everyone that was present. When the light cleared, in place of the circle was a boy who looked to be in his late teenage years. Though his hair was definitely out of the ordinary, being that the color was crimson. His eyes were also different, having a emerald color. He wore a black coat that matched his black pants and boots. He only scratched his head, being in a foreign place.

Louise couldn't believe it… After all that, all she got was a commoner that had an above average appearance.

"Wow, this makes all the things that you said worth it Zero! You really messed up big time! Summoning a commoner must be a sign! It must mean that you were meant to have no element at all!" jeered Montmorency. Louise couldn't just accept that this was her familiar. She turned to her teacher asking for a request.

"Mr Colbert, please allow me to do the ritual again! It must have been a mistake! I have never heard of a commoner as a familiar before!" argued Louise. The teacher was also awe-struck but he had to follow the rules which were strictly enforced.

"I am sorry Miss Valliere but I cannot allow you to redo the ritual. If I allow you to redo the ritual, I would be shaming the founder and the ritual itself. Not only that, if I allowed every mage that disliked his or her familiar to resummon then everyone here would try and try again until either they would be exhausted or we run out of ingredients therefore not allowing another mage to get his or her turn because of the lack of resources" retorted Professor Colbert.

Louise sighed after hearing such a response. She couldn't do anything and so she had a look of defeat on her face as it showed to the newcomer. She gave a last hopeless, pleading look at Mr Colbert before turning to her soon-to-be familiars. When suddenly Saito looked at her with a confused look. One question came to mind.

"Where am I?" asked Saito not caring who answered but wanted a response.

"You are at the prestigious Tristain Magic Academy" replied Colbert.

Saito blinked shortly until he looked up, seeing a castle and taking a pretty good guess that was where the people that were present at the moment were staying. He was also able to sense magic but everyone that was here was very low. Well except for one. He started to think of the name of the twin Colbert had gave him. "Tristain" 'I'm in another world or something? I'm not from my world?' Saito looked above where he was able to see the sky and couldn't understand how this world functioned. Two moon in the middle of day? He heard the term commoner and could only think to play along for now.

"Where and what is Tristain? I have never heard of it in my whole life" responded Saito

"Nonsense, what backwater country does not know what the Tristain Academy is? It is the most famous Magic school in history!" said Louise

'Good. That's a start, I think Maybe she's the one that had summoned me? She is cute but something is off with her magic. It's strong but low, like it hasn't been open yet.' His thoughts were snapped when someone interrupted.

"What a disappointment. You really are a zero. You not only summoned a commoners but you managed to get one from some backwater country that is probably thousands of years behind us" laughed Kirche, all the other students burst into laughter soon after her comment which resulted in making Louise turn red in embarrassment.

"What continent are we on?" asked Saito

"You are on the continent of Halkeginia, country of Tristain" replied Colbert

"How did I get here?" asked Saito

"I summoned you to be my familiar, so be honored you are even here, commoners rarely even set foot in the Academy" replied Louise. Saito was starting to question this commoner business.

"What is all this commoner stuff?"

"A commoner is someone who has no magical ability and no wealth."

"Okay, then what does that make you?"

"Oh, she should be a commoner as well since she lacks any talent in magic!" laughed one of the students that were looking on at this event.

"The summoning of a commoner proves it" added Kirche tacking on the jokes. This was starting to get under Louise's skin.

"Shut up!" screamed Louise

"Now, now, settle down…" Colbert ordered trying to keep peace.

"Anyway, onto the matter at hand, why am I summoned?" asked Saito trying to get back on topic. He needed answers.

"You are summoned to be Miss Valliere's familiar" replied Colbert

"You mean like one of those pets that magicians have? Like a dog, cat, wolf?" asked Saito

"Yes. That's a accurate assumption you made" said Colbert

"Now Miss Vallière, complete the Springtime Familiar Summoning ritual. Because commoner or not, he is your familiar as determined by this sacred ceremony."

'A contract? Well, better being here than being stuck doing nothing. Now what is this contract about?' Saito was quickly thinking until seeing the girl that had summoned.

"My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Pentagon that governs the five powers, give this person your blessing and make it my familiar spirit."

'That is a very weird name to have. Though the world also have it's share of weirdness.' He looked up noticing the pink haired girl had started to move forward getting close to him. Louise then held his head, his eyes now showing confusion at this weird yet not horrible situation, before Louise leaned in and kissed him on his lips. Saito could only think of one thing at the moment. 'Hmm strawberry.' The kiss ended briefly and she moved away from him.

"Again Miss Vallière, well done. It seems you had no trouble with the 'Contract Servant' spell." the older man said, though for a familiar see to be a human boy. Saito groaned as he felt something inside him stirring

"Wha-" he cut off as his aforementioned instincts screamed something was wrong. A magic power that was not his own flooded into him as his body began to heat up and turn red "What?" his voice seemed to echo, "What's happening!" he asked as the magic settled, though the pain remained, throughout the entirety of his body and literally simmered just underneath his skin.

"It'll end soon." he heard Louise say.. "The Familiar's Runes are being inscribed."

Before he could have a chance to respond the foreign magic surged to his left hand, making it as if a holy sword had pierced right through with a vengence. While holding back a grunt of pain, he brought the hand up and saw symbols of some sort were shining from the top of his palm. The hand itself was giving off small twitches. The symbols flared brightly as the pain rose to new heights before finally dimming completely, the pain going along with it. After standing up he looked at his hand again; the symbols now looked like an old scar and were permanent.

'It felt like my power as a Sekiryutei was back, like in the time where Ddraig was alive, but with a bit of something 's else.' Saito was giving a small evaluation at this new power he felt.

"Hmm, these are very unusual Runes." the man with the staff said, "Time to go back to class everyone." After which Colbert turned on his heel and rose gently into the air. The other kids also floated up and away, saying something he didn't quite catch but seemed to annoy Louise, before heading to the castle not to far from where they were

"Come familiar!" He turned to see that the girl he thought was called Louise had already started moving towards the castle.

'Might as well play along for now. I need some more information and my new "master" seems to be all type of fun. Though he needed to clear some things with this brat if it was to continue.' He heard an outside voice and shortly after realized his 'master,' was asking him a question.

"You, Familiar, what is your name?" she demanded. He waited a moment, as he thinks what to answer.

"Hiraga Saito."

"Hirara Saitro? What a strange name."

'I don't want to hear that from you with a name like yours.' He was slightly irritated at the criticism he had received. "Just Saito is fine. If you prefer not to, you can call me Welsh but I don't use the name very much."

"Welsh? That's a very unique name for a commoner."

"Thanks?" He couldn't tell if that was a compliment. What may your name be my master?"

"Don't address a noble with that kind of classless tone. My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Remember it as you are my familiar so I can't let my familiar speak to me like he is an equal."

"Very well Louise" say Saito with a smirk on face taking a small liking to how she responded. 'Yes the brat don't even have a clue what he summon' he thought quickly as they continued to move. He soon remembered a question that would be vital at the moment.

"Louise, where am I supposed to sleep?"

"First don't call me by my name. You are just a lower servant, a dog and as for sleep, you will sleep in my room at the dorming area. Come with me"

"How should I call you?" He didn't want this brat to continue it's high class and spoiled tone so he wanted to bypass it.

"Master or Lady Louise."

"Very well My-lady."

"Hmm good way to start." Saito took notice of the castle itself.

'The castle have a strange design and a form that can't resist a attack but is very strengthened with magic How could-' he started until again he was cut off by his master's voice.

"We are here"

"Where?"

"My room. Now enter." The selected room was very big with a queen size bed, a table and a pile of a haystack on the ground.

'I have a bad premonition about where my bed is.' Even through the thought, he still had to ask. "So where is my bed?" Louise point with her index finger for the pile of straw 'Yep my premonition is true.' He sighed and then had to bring up a point. "You expect a human to sleep in a pile of straw?"

"You are not a human you are just a familiar and a commoner so this is good for you." He did not understand this logic.

'It's a very big problem with a commoner and noble here. Hm, let's make fun of her more for now and see how she would have reacted with a different familiar.' Shortly he was able to come up with something.

"And if you were to summon a griffin or a Dragon, where would you let him sleep?" For some reason, her face showed a hint of red on her cheeks.

"I I i… I didn't think I could summon one. I summoned a commoner, there was no way I could have summoned a dragon. Were you trying to make a fool out of me? No meals for you!" Saito could only sigh and scratch the back of his head.

'You don't even have an idea about what you had summoned don't you?' he quickly thought not expecting anyone to hear it.

"You said that right now?"

"What did I say?"

"I don't have an idea what I summon don't I?"

"No my lady, I did not said such words." His mind went to work quickly. 'Hmm so it seems like the girl can hear my thoughts.' He grew a razor sharp smirk intrigued by this. 'Very interesting!'

"I'm going to sleep now. I want you to wake me up in the morning and wash my clothes." The only thing that came to mind was that he would be doing chores. How about that? She threw her clothes onto his face and had put on night pajamas.

"Master can I go and inspect the castle? I don't really need to sleep today so I can use the time that I am free." He was just coming up with an excuse.

"Hmm." She was contemplating the idea before coming to a conclusion. "Very well. You can inspect it as it's a good idea to know the place if I need you to do run an errand." She turned in her bed away from him already giving him the okay.

"Very well My-lady. I am going now. Good night."

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	2. The First Day

Still chuckling, I made my way down, following from memory the path we had taken up to the tower dormitories earlier, only in reverse. 'Ordering a Dragon to do the laundry. This is a very funny world.

'I can't help but imagine how some of the Dragons I've interacted with in the past would react to this ridiculous situation.I could not see someone like Fáfnir or Tiamat in an apron, washing a girl's underwear….

At the base of the tower Saito came across what appeared to be two more students, a male and a female. The boy was posed extravagantly, wearing a black coat with a frilly white shirt, one arm on his hip and the other in the air holding a rose next to his face. The girl was in what appeared to be the standard uniform with a brown cloak; she was declaring something about soufflés. That caught Saito's interest.

'Some idiot playboy we have here.'

"I would be glad to have some," the boy assured the girl grandly.

"Really?" she said, her hands clasped in front of her, a picture of maidenly innocence. Saito almost felt sorry for the poor girl, seeing as this guy was obviously some kind of lothario.

"Really, Katie," the male student assured her. "I cannot tell lies in front of your eyes." It was a good line, but a bit too dramatic for Saito's taste. He continued past them without a second glance. The brat apparently recognized him, because once his back was turned Saito heard him call out, "You. Aren't you the commoner that Louise summoned?"

"Yes, I am," Saito told him, not sparing him a glance. He didn't like the noble boy, who seemed like he does not care about the feelings of the girl. Saito had already placed him as one of the students that had been laughing at Louise when she had called him forth. 'Probably better not to get too friendly with him, at least until I see what her place is. I don't need that moron to bother me. I don't care if you laugh at Louise, but I won't accept having a brat laugh at ME like I'm an animal who doesn't have a mind.'

"Hmph," Saito snorted disdainfully. 'I can just imagine him striking a pose for the on-looking, enraptured girl.'

"How rude. It must be a terrible shame to have something as boorish as a commoner for a familiar."

'Now you're really annoying me, Brat. Shut your mouth or I'll shut it permanently!'

"It's still better than a giant mole," Saito called back to him, and then turned a corner while the student was still in the midst of sputtering in outrage over his taunt. 'For now, I only have to be polite to one person in this castle, and she is currently asleep in her bed.'

"Hah, I'm starving...damn..." Saito said, remembering that, for the last six thousand years, he has only eaten what his own magic produced. Clutching his stomach, he leaned one hand on a wall.

"Is something the matter?"

He turned around to see a normal-looking girl in a maid's outfit carrying a big silver tray, looking concernedly at him. Her black hair was neatly adorned with a headband, and her freckles were cute.

'Hmm, this is a good girl. I better be good around her.' Saito waved his left hand as he said, "It's nothing..."

"Are you by any chance the one who became Miss de la Vallière's familiar...?"

It seemed she noticed the runes inscribed on Saito's left hand. "You know me?"

"A little. It's become quite a rumor; you know…that a commoner was called by the summoning magic." The girl smiled sweetly. It was the first carefree smile Saito had seen since he came to this world.

"Are you a mage, too?" he asked.

"Oh, no, not me. I'm a commoner, just like you. I serve the nobility here by doing domestic duties."

'I'm actually from Earth and am not a commoner. I am a dragon, but it's probably useless to try and explain,' Saito concluded, so he decided to just introduce himself. "I see... Well, I'm Hiraga Saito. Nice to meet you."

"That's quite a strange name...I'm Siesta."

'Not again.'

"Just Saito is fine. If it is too hard, Welsh is good, too."

At that point, Saito's stomach grumbled.

"You must be hungry."

"Yeah..."

"Please follow me this way."

I was led to the kitchen located at the rear of the dining hall. Lots of large pots and ovens were lined up inside. Cooks and other maids like Siesta were busily preparing food.

"Please wait one moment, okay?"

Siesta had me sit on a chair placed in the corner of the kitchen and then she disappeared hastily into the back.

She soon returned with a bowl full of warm stew in her hands.

"This is some stew made from the leftovers of the nobles' meals. If you don't mind, please eat this."

"Can I?"

"Yes. It's only the staff meal, though..."

"This is really tasty. Thanks."

"I'm glad you like it. Feel free to visit whenever you're hungry. If you don't mind having whatever we're having, I'd be happy to share."

Such a kind offer. I was touched. "Thanks..."

Saito's P.O.V.

I finished washing the garments and took them back to Louise's cell. Then I decided to test if my old draconian powers are indeed back. So I headed to a secluded place in the castle's grounds so no one could see me. Then I transformed into a dragon in a weakened state.

It was past midnight as I stood on the highest spear of the highest tower of what I now knew to be a magical academy. I spread my wings and leaped into the air. I flew around cautiously, to make sure that I haven't got too rusty.

The moon was a bright crescent in a sky that was unnaturally clear compared to the skies of my home world. Yes, my home world, not my homeland.'Although it has been six thousand years since I last saw the moon in my world, so I don't know what to expect now.'

The maid, whose name turned out to be Siesta, had been quite willing to speak with me as she given me something to did manage to answer many of the questions that I had about my current whereabouts. She was also able to explain to me the difference between nobles and commoners. The nobles were the equivalent of the aristocracy of medieval Europe, and apparently every one of them was a mage. They practiced their arts freely and quite often without regard to the consequences. They also looked down upon and subjugated those who could not freely command the powers of magic like they did. They were for the most part flighty, self-absorbed, and arrogant bastards.

'Their attitudes and behavior are very wrong for many reasons. The nobles think that those who have power can control those who don't have it.'

'It would be best to not attract their attention with my power, I suppose.'

As I prepared to land and go back inside the castle, my ears caught the faintest sound of flapping wings. With a frown, I saw it…a blue dragon.

'Well now, this is a surprise. I didn't expect to see a dragon like that here, even if it is a young, Rhyme Dragon. Just who has the power to summon something like this, I wonder? Hmm, let's go and see. I'm curious to see if the dragon can tell who I am.'

And so I jumped from an eight hundred foot tower, moving in the direction of the dragon and its rider, a girl with blue hair.

'Really, the god of this world is a bit crazy about hair color.'

The girl was exceptionally thin and had the brightest blue hair I'd ever seen. Grasped firmly in one of her hands was a long, crooked staff, vaguely reminiscent of a shepherd's crook. Even in the dark I could feel her curious gaze upon me.

I raised my hand in greeting to the distant watcher; she seemed mildly startled that I had managed to pick her out in the dark at such a distance. My own form was lit from below by the lights of the castle, which should have narrowed my night vision even more. Almost reluctantly, the girl raised her staff in response to my greeting.

'Hmm, with roughly a hundred yards left to go, now is a good time to try and use my old power.'

And so I closed my eyes and thought about what I wanted to do, and in that moment my run started to activate.

'Let's try a promotion first; I need speed so I think I know what to choose.'

"Promotion KNIGHT!"

And 'Speed of Knight' came to me. With just three steps at the speed of god I found myself face to face with the blue-haired girl before my power disappeared.

Normal P.O.V.

Tabitha was awestruck; she didn't know what happened, but the familiar of Louise suddenly moved more than three hundred meters-through the air-and on top of that, now her dragon is very spooked.

"Hello," said Saito to the girl. The girl just nodded her head a bit.

"How?" ask Tabitha.

"How? You mean my speed?" asked Saito and Tabitha nodded again.

"By one one of my powers, and yes, it is magic," Saito told her; Tabitha just didn't know what to think about the commoner. His speed was something that even a very powerful wind mage couldn't achieve.

"You have a very interesting dragon here," Saito told her, while Sylphid made some strange sounds. Tabitha was concerned about her familiar, as it showed fear, something his master didn't expect to see from any dragon, much less a Rhyme Dragon.

'Don't worry, little one, I won't do anything i'm a dragon, just like you. And don't tell anyone who I am. My name is Welsh, remember it'

"And what is you name, girl?" asked Saito.

"Tabitha," she replied. "You?"

"Hiraga Saito. Good night, Tabitha, I need to go now. Good night, Sylphid."

'I think that not every noble is an arrogant fool.'

Saito's P.O.V.

It was precisely dawn when I woke my master. 'She looks cute when sleeping. First things first,' I thought as I flung the blanket off Louise.

"Wh-What? What's going on?"

"It's morning, Milady."

"Huh? O-Oh...wait, who are you!?" Louise yelled in a slurred voice. Her expression was vacant as she trailed off into a pitiful mumble.

'Is this brat okay?' "Hiraga Saito," I supplied.

"Oh, the familiar. That's right…I summoned you yesterday, didn't I?" Louise got up and yawned. Then she spoke in a haughty manner, "Clothes."

So I tossed her the uniform that had been draped over a chair. Louise began to sluggishly undress.

I quickly turned the other way to hide my blushing face.

"Underwear."

"Get that yourself," I objected. 'What, do you think I'm a kid?'

"They're in the lowest drawer... in that bureau over there." It seemed like she thoroughly planned to make the most of me.

Holding my tongue, I went and opened the indicated drawer. Lo and behold, it was packed full of underwear. It was the first time I had seen women's underwear, except for my mother's. Grabbing a pair at random, I threw it over my shoulder without looking back.

Once Louise had put them on, she mumbled again, "Clothes."

"I just gave them to you."

"Dress me."

'Don't push it!' I turned to protest angrily, only to find Louise sitting sleepily on the bed. She was wearing nothing but the underwear I had thrown at her.

Louise pouted in displeasure. "You must not know because you're a commoner, but nobles do not dress themselves if a servant is available."

That irked me. Greatly. "You can at least dress yourself."

"Right then. As punishment for being a disrespectful familiar: no breakfast," Louise declared, while raising a finger triumphantly.

'Calm down…calm down, Saito. Don't breathe fire at her!' I struggled to gain control over myself.

Normal P.O.V.

When Saito left the room with Louise, he saw three identical wooden doors along the wall. One of them opened, and from inside appeared a girl with flaming red hair. She was taller than Louise, and roughly the same height as Saito. She gave off a strongly flirtatious aura. Her face was attractive, and she sported a captivating bustline. Her breasts were like melons.

The top two buttons of her blouse were undone, highlighting her impressive cleavage, which impulsively drew the eyes in. Saito's were no exception. Her skin was tanned, giving her the look of vitality and natural beauty.

Her height, skin color, bearing, and breast size... It all made for a strong contrast with Louise, who lacked in most of those charming points.

When she saw Louise, she grinned broadly. "Good morning, Louise."

Louise returned the greeting with a frown. "Good morning... Kirche."

"That... is your familiar?" Kirche asked somewhat mockingly, pointing at Saito.

"That's right."

"Ahaha! So it really is a human! That's amazing!"

Saito resented that. 'What a slut!'

"It's just like you to summon a commoner with 'Summon Servant.' What else would I expect from Louise the Zero?"

Louise's white cheeks flushed scarlet. "Shut up."

"I summoned a familiar yesterday, too. Unlike a certain somebody, I was successful on my first try."

"Really?" asked Louise using heavy sarcasm.

"And, if you're going to have a familiar, it should be a good one, like this. Flame!"

Kirche called her familiar triumphantly. From her room, a large, dark-red lizard slithered out. A wave of heat hit Saito.

"Hmm it is a bit hot. You summoned a salamander?" asked Saito, while thinking, 'And a very powerful one…impressive.'

Kirche smiled. "So you know about salamanders? That is good for a commoner," said Kirche.

"Thank you."

The creature was at least as big as a tiger. Its tail was tipped with flame, and its mouth emitted sparks and embers.

"Don't you feel hot being near it?" Saito asked. He calmed himself down and looked at it again.

"It's actually fairly cool to me."

'Hmm…she has a good affinity for fire, doesn't she?' Saito concluded.

"Is that a salamander?" Louise asked jealously.

"That's right! A fire lizard! See, look at the tail. A flame this vivid and large means it's without a doubt a salamander from the Fire Dragon Mountains! It's like a brand! Collectors can't even put a price on these!" Kirche boasted.

"That's nice," Louise said, her voice bitter.

"Isn't it? It matches my element perfectly!"

"Your affinity is Fire, isn't it?"

"Of course. After all, I'm Kirche the Ardent. The devotion of gently smoldering passion. Everywhere I go, I have boys falling all over me. Unlike you, right?" Kirche puffed out her chest proudly.

Not wanting to lose, Louise did the same, but the difference in volume was just too striking. Despite this, Louise glared at Kirche. It looked as if she really hated losing. "I don't have the time to go around flirting with everything I see, unlike you."

Kirche only smiled calmly. Then, she turned to Saito. "And what's your name?"

"Hiraga Saito."

"Hiragasaito? What a strange name."

'You anger me, slut!'

"Hey! Well then, I guess I'll be off now." She stroked her flaming red hair back and dashed off. The salamander followed her with a cute shuffling movement that looked odd for such a large creature.

As she disappeared, Louise shook a fist in her direction. "Ooh, that girl gets on my nerves! Just because she summoned a salamander from the Fire Dragon Mountains! Argh!"

"Calm down, it's just a summoning," Saito tried to appease Louise.

"No, it's not! You can determine a mage's true power just by looking at his/her familiar! Why did that idiot get a salamander, while I got you?"

"Jeez, sorry for being a human. But you're one too, y'know." 'I'm not one, but I can't say I am a dragon,' Saito reasoned.

"Comparing mages and commoners is like comparing horses and mice!" Louise exclaimed haughtily.

"Okay, okay. By the way, she just called you 'Louise the Zero. What's the 'Zero' stand for? Is it your surname?"

"No way! My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de La Vallière! 'Zero' is just a nickname."

"A nickname, huh? I can understand why she's called 'Ardent,' but why are you called 'Zero?'"

"You don't need to know," Louise answered uncomfortably.

"Is it your breasts?" Saito asked, glancing at Louise. Yup, flat as a board.

Louise's hand flew out. He dodged it.

"Come back here!"

"Don't hit me!"

The Academy of Magic's dining hall was the tallest and centermost building on the premises. Inside, three extremely long tables were arranged parallel to each other. Each one looked like it could easily seat a hundred people. The table at which Louise and all the second years sat was the middle table.

It appeared that students could be identified by the color of their cloaks. Viewed from the entrance, everyone sitting on the left-hand table looked a little older and wore purple cloaks — third years. The students sitting on the right-hand table wore brown cloaks — first years.

'So they're like year-level jerseys,' Saito thought.

Every single mage on the school grounds, students and teachers alike, gathered here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On an upper level, Saito could see teachers enjoying pleasant chatter.

All the tables were magnificently decorated with numerous candles, bunches of flowers, and baskets full of fruit…. Saito's mouth was agape with amazement at the sheer grandeur of the dining hall.

Louise raised her head imperiously and began to explain. Her hazel eyes twinkled with mischief. "Tristain's Academy of Magic doesn't teach just magic, you know."

"Right..."

"Almost all mages are nobles. The saying 'nobles achieve nobility through the use of magic' is a foundation for the education we receive as nobles. Thus, our dining halls must also be fitting of a noble's status."

"Okay..."

"Understand? Normally, a commoner like you would never set foot inside the Alvíss Dining Hall. Be grateful."

"Right…hey, what's an 'Alvíss'?"

"It's the name for the little people. See all those statues over there?" Where she pointed, an elaborate series of sculptures showing small people lined the walls.

"They're well-made. Err, those things aren't enchanted and come to life during the night or anything, do they?"

"Oh, you knew that?"

"So they do?!"

"Well, they dance. Enough of this-pull out my chair, will you? You're not a very competent familiar," Louise remarked, crossing her arms and tilting her head, which made her strawberry-blonde hair ripple. Oh well, ladies first. Saito pulled Louise's chair out for her.

Louise didn't even thank him as she sat down. Saito also brought over a chair for himself.

"This is amazing!" Saito cried. It was far too grand for a breakfast. A huge roasted chicken taunted Saito. Other than that, there was also wine and a pie baked in the shape of a trout.

'Ahh, heaven!'

"You know, familiars are supposed to stay outside. You're only in here because I specially requested it."

Extending his neck, he peered over the edge of the tabletop. He could only gaze longingly at the spectacular feast that was laid out on it. It was far beyond comparison with his meager bowl of scraps.

"Oh, Great Founder Brimir, and our lady, the Queen, we thank you for this humble meal that you have graciously provided for us this morning," the harmonious sound of a prayer sounded. Louise joined in as well, closing her eyes.

Just how is that a 'humble meal?' Saito griped, still staring at the food. That's more than a banquet.'

The classrooms in the Academy of Magic were similar to university lecture halls. And like everything else, they were constructed from stone. The lecturing teacher stood at the lowest level, and the seats were arranged upward like stairs. When Saito and Louise entered, every student in the room simultaneously turned their heads towards them.

And then the laughter began. Kirche was there as well, surrounded by a group of boys.

'I see…so she really does have them wrapped around her little finger. She's being treated like a queen by all of those guys. Well, it's not surprising with her impressive bust. I guess big breasts are big breasts, no matter where you go,' Saito concluded as he watched Kirche and her admirers.

The familiars that everyone had brought along were a varied bunch.

Kirche's salamander was asleep, curled up under her chair. There were students with owls resting on their shoulders. From a window, a gigantic snake peered into the class. One boy whistled, and the snake withdrew its head. Along with those, there were also ravens and cats.

He spotted a lizard with six legs. 'That's gotta be…' Saito tried to recall, '…a basilisk!' There was also a huge eyeball floating gently in midair. What could that be? He decided to ask Louise.

"What's that freaky eye monster?"

"A bugbear."

"A bugbear?" Saito asked skeptically. "What part of it resembles either a bug or a bear? It's a freaking, floating eyeball." The eye didn't seem to take offense to his blunt assessment, but it did turn away and started to float off.

The door opened, and the teacher entered. She was a middle-aged woman dressed in a voluminous purple robe and wearing a hat. She had a plump, round face with a friendly expression on it.

"Is that lady a magician too?" Saito whispered to Louise.

"Isn't it obvious?" Louise hissed back.

The woman gazed around the classroom and spoke with a satisfied smile.

"Well, everyone, it seems that the Springtime Familiar Summoning was a great success. I, Chevreuse, always enjoy seeing the new familiars that are summoned each spring."

Louise cast her eyes downward.

"My, my, my. You've summoned quite a...peculiar familiar, Miss de la Vallière," she remarked as she looked at Saito. The comment was fairly innocent, but the classroom exploded with laughter.

"Louise the Zero! Don't go around grabbing random commoners off the street just because you can't summon anything!"

Louise's long blonde hair billowed as she stood up. She raised her cute voice in anger. "No! I did everything properly! He was all that appeared!"

"Don't lie! I bet you couldn't even cast 'Summon Servant' properly, right?" A boy on the second level jeered. The other students chuckled.

"Mrs. Chevreuse! I've been insulted! Malicorne the 'Common Cold' just insulted me!" Louise banged her fist against the tabletop in protest.

"Common cold? I'm Malicorne the Windward! I haven't caught any cold!"

"Well, your hoarse voice sounds exactly like you've caught one!"

The boy called Malicorne stood up and glared at Louise. Chevreuse pointed at them with the wand in her hand. The two suddenly jerked about like puppets on a string and rigidly sat back down.

"Miss Vallière and Mister Malicorne! Please stop this unnecessary argument."

Louise looked visibly dejected. All the vivacity that she'd shown just minutes earlier seemed to have evaporated.

"Calling friends 'Zero' or 'Common Cold' is not acceptable. Do you understand?"

"Mrs. Chevreuse, I'm only called that as a joke, but for Louise, it's the truth."

A few giggles broke out from somewhere. Chevreuse looked around the classroom with a severe expression. She pointed her wand again, and, as if from nowhere, the mouths of the students who'd giggled were suddenly filled with lumps of red clay.

"You students shall continue the lesson in that state." This put a firm stopper on any further outbursts. "Now then, let's begin the lesson."

Chevreuse coughed heavily and waved her wand. A few pebbles materialized on her desktop. "My Runic name is 'Red Clay.' Chevreuse the Red Clay. This year, I will be teaching you all the magic of the Earth element. Do you know the four great elements of magic, Mister Malicorne?"

"Y-Yes, Mrs. Chevreuse. They are Fire, Water, Earth and Wind."

Chevreuse nodded.

"And combined with the now-lost element of 'Void,' there are five elements in total - as everyone should already know. Of the five elements, I believe Earth holds an extremely important position. This isn't just because my affinity is Earth, nor is it simply a personal preference."

Once again, Chevreuse coughed heavily.

"The magic of Earth is very important magic that governs the creation of all matter. If it wasn't for Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to produce or process necessary metals. Raising buildings from large boulders and harvesting crops would also involve much more work. In this manner, the magic of the Earth element is intimately related to everyone's life."

'Aha', thought Saito. 'So in this world, magic is the equivalent of science and technology in my world. I think I understand now the reason why Louise is so proud to call herself a magician.'

"Now, everyone, please recall that the basic magic of the Earth element is 'Transmutation'. While there will be people here who have already learned this in their first year, basics build foundations, so let's review it once more."

Chevreuse turned her attention to the pebbles and twirled her wand over them. She then whispered a spell, and they began to glow brightly. When the light dimmed away, the pebbles had been changed into sparkling lumps of metal.

"Is that g-g-gold, Mrs. Chevreuse!?" Kirche probed as she leaned forward over her desk.

"No, it isn't. It's plain brass. Only Square-class mages are able to transmute to gold. I'm just..." Chevreuse gave a self-important cough. "…a Triangle-class mage."

"Louise." Saito poked her.

"What? We're in the middle of a lesson here!"

"What's all this talk about squares and triangles supposed to mean?"

"It's the number of elements that they can use to cast a spell, which also determines the level of a mage."

"Huh?"

"See, for example, you can use an Earth spell on its own. But if you add Fire magic to it, the overall power of the spell increases greatly," Louise explained to Saito quietly.

"Oh, I see."

"Those who can stack two elements like Fire and Earth together are called Line mages. Mrs. Chevreuse, being able to combine three elements, Earth-Fire-Wind, is a Triangle mage."

"What happens when you add an element to itself?"

"It reinforces that element and makes it stronger."

"I see. So in other words, you could say that the teacher over there is a fairly powerful mage, because she's a Triangle?" 'What a low system of magic this world has,' Saito scoffed.

"Exactly."

"How many can you add, Louise?"

She didn't answer, but the teacher had noticed them talking. "Miss de la Vallière!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Please refrain from private chatter during lessons."

"I'm sorry..."

"Since you have the time to chatter, perhaps I should have you demonstrate for me?"

"Eh? Me?"

"Yes. Try changing these pebbles here into a metal of your choice."

Louise didn't stand up. She simply sat there looking troubled and fidgety.

"Hey, come on! She's pointing at you!" Saito nudged her.

"Miss de la Vallière! Is something the matter?" Mrs. Chevreuse called for her again, but Kirche raised her voice in concern.

"Umm..."

"Yes?"

"I think it would be better if you didn't ask her..."

"And why is that?"

"It's dangerous," Kirche answered plainly. The majority of the class nodded in agreement.

"Dangerous? How so?"

"This is your first time teaching Louise, right?"

"It is, but I hear she's a hard worker. Now, Miss de la Vallière, don't you worry, just try it. You won't be able to do anything if you dread making mistakes."

"Don't, Louise!" Kirche cried, her face pale.

But Louise stood up. "I'll do it." With a nervous expression, she walked briskly up to the front of the room.

Chevreuse stood next to Louise and smiled. "Miss de la Vallière, you have to vividly visualize the metal that you wish to transmute them into."

Giving a cute little nod, Louise waved her wand. She had never looked as adorable as in that instant when she pursed her lips to begin chanting the incantation-it was almost otherworldly. In the morning sunshine streaming in from the window, Louise's strawberry-blonde hair sparkled enchantingly. Her hazel eyes shined like jewels, and her skin was a flawless white. Her sculpted nose was befitting of nobility.

Even knowing her true personality, Saito was momentarily enamoured. 'If only her breasts were more filled out, she'd be perfect-almost too perfect. But no matter how cute she is, that personality of hers is a real pitfall,' Saito lamented.

'Don't they see how cute Louise is? Still, she doesn't seem to be very popular. Rather, she gets called 'the Zero' and heckled a lot. Just looking around here, there aren't any girls nearly as cute. Only Kirche rivals her in looks.' But as he sat there pondering Louise's appeal, the students sitting in front of him had, for some reason, hidden under their chairs.

Closing her eyes, Louise uttered a short spell and flourished her wand. The pebbles on the desk promptly exploded.

Louise and Chevreuse caught the blast full-on and were thrown against the blackboard, as people screamed. Frightened familiars added to the chaos. Kirche's salamander suddenly woke from its sleep and stood up on its hind legs, breathing a jet of flame. A manticore burst into flight and smashed through a window to escape. The giant snake that had been peeking in earlier slithered in through the hole and swallowed someone's raven…whole.

The classroom was in pandemonium.

Kirche stood up and pointed a finger at Louise. "That's why I told you not to let her do it!"

"Jeez, de la Vallière! Save us some grief and just quit school already!"

"My familiar, Lucky, got eaten by a snake! Poor Lucky!"

Mrs. Chevreuse lay on the floor; judging by her occasional twitching, she wasn't dead.

Saito stared in shock. A soot-blackened Louise rose slowly. She was a miserable sight to behold. Her torn blouse revealed a slender shoulder, and her panties could be seen beneath her ripped skirt. She didn't seem at all fazed by the discord in the room. She pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the soot off her face. 'Still, what an amazing girl.' Saito concluded, despite the turmoil.

"Looks like I messed up a little," she said in a weak voice. Of course, that elicited a vehement response from the other students.

"That wasn't 'a little,' Louise the Zero!"

"Your success rate is always ZERO!"

Saito finally understood why Louise was called "the Zero."

Saito's P.O.V.

I have to sleep on the floor. The food sucks. And on top of that, I have to wash frilly underwear. Not that I've actually done that yet. After running through my list of grievances against Louise, there is no way I could keep quiet about her newly found weakness.

So I teased Louise like there was no tomorrow. "Louise the Zero, huh? Now I get it! Your rate of success is zero. But you're still a noble despite all that...how wonderful!" I was in a mood to get even. 'This is what you get for making me wash your clothes!'

We finally entered the courtyard, and I noticed some people sitting at tables, being served by maids and waiters.

"What's going on here, some special occasion or something?" I asked.

"Kind of. There's no lesson today for second years; this is to enhance their communication with the familiars they just summoned."

"Good, we need to talk about something," I told her with a cold voice.

"Familiar," she snapped at me crossly. "Don't presume to use that tone of voice on me, you dog! Don't just stand there! At the very least, go get me some tea!" She scowled before walking away.

"Get it yourself," I told her, turning to walk in another direction. 'I think I need to reveal what I am. Talking just don't help.'

"Whoa!" I yelled as I stumbled back, only to find myself hitting something else, followed by a scream. I immediately turned, to see Siesta sprawled on the ground. There was a small cake beside her. "Oh, I'm so sorry Siesta," I said, picking her up.

"No, it's okay, I'm fine actually, Saito." She smiled. She noticed the cake on the ground and reached out for it.

"Oh, it's okay, I got it," I said, picking up the cake for her. I stood, and then placed it back on the plate.

I turned my attention to Siesta to find her giggling into her hand at my response. "Working hard?" I asked her with a smile. She beamed up at me.

"Oh yes," she agreed happily. "Forgive my rudeness, but I don't have time to chat for long. I have to deliver this cake." She indicated with a nod towards the table that the pastry was destined for and I nodded in response.

"I'll accompany you," I told her, and moved into step beside her.

"Oh, no," she said, though she didn't sound displeased by my offer. "I mean, this is supposed to be a time for you and your master to get to know each other. I'd hate to intrude." Though she said that, she didn't make any further attempt to chase me off.

"My Master and I are having a disagreement," I inform her dryly. "I left to give her enough time to cool down before we resume our conversation." And resume it we shall, I vowed to myself.

"A disagreement?" she asked, sounding troubled.

"Nothing too serious, so don't worry," I reassured her.

"Hey! Is the cake still not ready?" It was Guiche again. He was sitting with another girl. This time it was a blonde with curly pigtails.

"I knew it! That player..." I muttered under my breath.

"Oh, yes, right away!" Siesta called out, but I held the plate out of her reach.

"It's okay, I'll bring it to him."

"But that's been-"

"It's okay…. It's fine for that stuck up moron," I mumbled, walking toward him.

"Here you go, sir," I said, placing the cake in front of him. Guiche saw who I was and smiled. I turned to walk away from him, but I stopped when he began to speak.

"You again. The boorish commoner that Louise the Zero summoned," the boy said to me, with the tone of someone who was about to do something cruel in order to impress a girl. "Off to serve you mistress like the plebian you are?"

Well then. A childish taunt thrown at the back of someone he believed wouldn't stand up for themselves. Too bad for him, he left himself wide open to my riposte. "You again. The self-absorbed fop from last night," I responded, turning around in time to catch his eyes bugging out over my rather direct insult. "Chatting up another woman, like you were last night? What's the matter-the girl in the brown cape's soufflé wasn't good enough for you?"

"Y-y-you! How dare you address a noble in such a fashion, commoner?" He demanded, seemingly genuinely shocked that I'd put him in his place so willingly. "I shall have you…."

Whatever punishment he was planning was interrupted by the blond girl. "Guiche," she queried her brow furrowing. "What is he talking about?"

The boy, Guiche, suddenly looked a lot less concerned about me and more intent on mending the fence I had just kicked in. "Nothing, Montmorency. This little nobody is merely attempting to slander my good name." He leaned in close, taking the blond girl-Montmorency I suppose-by the hand and gazing deep into her eyes. "After all. I-"

"Cannot tell lies in front of your eyes?" I supplied for him, causing him to twitch. I turned to the blond girl, who looked confused. "Yeah, he used that line on the girl from last night. Katie, I think her name was."

Now the girl was looking far less confused and far more upset. Her hand that was not holding the frog began to clench and her eyes were definitely narrowed as she turned back to the stuttering Guiche. "Lies, all lies," Guiche protested, holding that same rose he had last night to his face while looking aggrieved at the injustice of facing such base accusations. I noticed something from the corner of my eye as he once more reached forward to rest his hand on the now shaking fist in front of him. "Why would I need another when I already have one whose beauty dwarfs even that of the morning star?" His snow job almost succeeded in calming the girl down. I guess she was susceptible to flattery.

Naturally, I couldn't let this fire blow out. I was having way too much fun one-upping the little brat. And luckily for me, a whole bucket of gas to fuel the flames was walking over behind this Guiche's unsuspecting back.

"Hey, Guiche, what was he talking about?" The blonde demanded.

"Ah, you see…I told you that last night," his voice faded, as his gaze landed on a confused first year student holding what looked like a soufflé.

As I walked up to her, I heard him yell in panic. I grinned, ready to teach him a lesson. "Master Guiche…where could he be?" said the first year, looking anxiously for him.

"Guiche? You mean that guy with the other girl over there?" I said, pointing to him.

"Ah! Master Guiche!" she squealed, as she ran up to him. I followed behind. I definitely wanted to see this.

"K-Katie!" He said, immediately letting go of the blonde. "Hey, there," he said casually.

"I've been looking everywhere for you, Master Guiche," she said. I saw the blonde girl's eyes change to a glare.

"This is gonna be good." I said.

"This is the homemade soufflé I was talking about last night. I thought it would be the perfect day for a tea party!" she exclaimed.

"O-oh, why thank you…thank you..." Guiche stuttered. Sweat poured down his face, and the edges of his smile shook.

"Last Night?" The blonde girl asked.

"O-oh, yes, well, you see…."

"Oh, thank goodness for you. You were saying how you really wanted to try it, right?" I smirked, cutting in. Guiche's head turned sharply.

"Y-you!" He said with shock.

"What, it's the truth isn't it?" I said. His head darted back and forth between Katie and the blonde girl.

"Guiche, what is the meaning of this?" the blonde demanded.

"W-wait, what are you talking about? You're creating a superfluous misunderstanding between these girls." He said, as everyone gathered to see the commotion.

"What's going on?" One person asked.

"It seems Guiche is starting something with that commoner familiar!" said another. Soon, everyone was around.

"What misunderstanding? You brought it on yourself, you two-timer!" I exclaimed. Guiche gasped, his whole body freezing with fright. 'Jackpot!'

"Two-timer?" Gasped Katie.

"So you were putting your hands on this first year!" the blonde girl growled, and started emitting some serious steam.

"Y-you're mistaken, Montmorency the Perfume!" Guiche said, backing away. "Please do not contort your rose-like face with anger! This is some mist-"

"How awful of you! You said we were together!" the first year cried, tears springing into her eyes.

"In any case, both of you! Please calm down—"

"YOU LIAR!" both girls cried at the same time. Then Montmorency followed up with a slap to his face, and they both stalked off as everyone else laughed at Guiche, who fell hard on his behind.

"Haha, you got dumped, Guiche!" one cried.

"Excellent! Now maybe I have a chance with Montmorency," a second-year boy said gleefully, running after the retreating figure of the blonde.

"Well, it was your own doing," said another, as I walked up to Guiche.

"This is what you get for playing with girl's hearts, you loser!" I said. His face filled with anger.

As the crowd laughed at his misfortune, Guiche pulled himself off the ground and attempted to find some way to salvage his pride. His eyes settled on me, and I raised my cup to him mockingly.

"You," he said. "It appears that you are unaware of the etiquette whilst speaking with nobles," he accused me. The worry Siesta was displaying ratcheted up a notch. It probably never bodes well for commoners when a noble speaks to them like that.

"No," I answered casually. "I know them. I just choose not to practice them most of the time," I admitted. The flippant answer caused the blond's eyes to narrow in impotent rage.

"Then perhaps a duel will help you understand the importance of displaying the appropriate respect when dealing with your betters," he proclaimed, pointing his rose at me dramatically.

'Thank you, Brat, you just made my day! Now I can let my little master see just what she summoned. But let's have a bit of fun. This moron is just too funny when angry.'

Very casually I put down the teacup. I tilted my head to one side and began to dig into my ear with my pinky. My strange response seemed to confuse the posturing blonde. When I finally pulled the finger from my ear I picked up the teacup again, and then met his eyes directly.

"I seemed to have had something stuck in my ear. Could you repeat that please?"

"A duel," he again proclaimed. "I can never forgive one who made two ladies cry."

"Then you're going to have trouble looking into a mirror for the rest of your life." I couldn't resist the dig, and it got the crowd laughing. I didn't smile though. I continued, "Accepted. When and where?"

"I shall be waiting for you on the grounds in front of the vestry," he proclaimed and whirled away, all dramatic cape and wounded pride.

Siesta seemed beside herself with fear. "Saito! What are you doing?" She demanded, her worry causing her voice to be shrill.

"Familiar!" another voice interrupted, and both the maid and I turned our heads sideways. Thundering toward me was four and a half feet of pink-haired, feminine fury. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded in a worried tone. "Come on!" she grabbed my hand and started to drag me away. Nearly losing my balance, I managed to place the teacup on the table and give a farewell wave to Siesta; she was now on the verge of tears and clutching the silver plate to her chest like a shield.

"Where are we going again, Louise?" I asked her, trying to regain my balance.

"To Guiche. If we apologize fast enough maybe he'll forgive you!" She declared. I planted my feet and she nearly dislocated her arm when she suddenly found me as immovable as a mountain.

"I refuse that order, Milady," I told her solemnly.

"What? Don't you understand that he'll kill you?" she demanded, now looking more worried than mad.

I studied her silently for a moment, before speaking. "I was planning on explaining this to you, but perhaps showing you will suffice. But you should know, Master, trying to keep me from battle is futile."

"Stop that!" she demanded, "Just what do you think a commoner can do against a noble?"

"You're about to find out," I told her, and turned to make my way to the church where Guiche was no doubt waiting, posturing all the while. I paused and turned to Louise, who had been following me, fuming at both my disobedience and the fact that I was acting like I wasn't going to my death. "Master, are you overly fond of Guiche by any chance?"

"What?" she asked, surprised by my sudden question, before getting a look on her face that was usually reserved for someone who had just bit into a lemon. "No. He's an annoying skirt chaser."

"Good," I said, and smiled. I could tell the smile unnerved her. "I would hate to cause my Master discomfort."

"Listen, a commoner can never beat a mage!"

Normal P.O.V.

"So where's this Vestry Court?"

Saito began to walk away. The friend of Guiche's that had been watching his exchange with Louise pointed with his chin. "This way, commoner."

"Aaah, jeez! Really! Why does this familiar keep going off and doing stuff on its own?!" With that, Louise chased after Saito.

Vestry Court was the central garden situated between the Wind and Fire elemental towers. Being located to the west, the Court didn't receive much sunshine, even in the middle of the day. But it was the perfect place for a duel.

Right now... the place was packed with people who had heard the rumors.

"Gentlemen! It's a duel!"

Guiche lifted his artificial rose high, eliciting a loud cheer from the crowd.

"Guiche is going to duel! His opponent is Louise's commoner!"

'I have a name, too, y'know!' Saito thought bitterly.

Waving his arms about, Guiche acknowledged the cheering. And then, as if finally noticing the peasant's presence there, he turned to face Saito.

Saito and Guiche stood in the middle of the Court, glaring intently at each other.

"First of all, I commend you for coming here instead of running away!" Guiche remarked in a sing-song voice, as he twirled his rose.

"Like anyone would run away!"

"Right then, let us begin," said Guiche.

"Let's begin."

"Hmph," he said, and shrugged exaggeratedly. "So eager to fall?" he asked me. "Who am I to deny your request, commoner." The crowd was eating his acting up. I must have made a boring figure in comparison. For all his smiling and posturing, I responded only with a grim expression.

'You make your own grave, kid.'

As he finally got around to doing something actually meant for battle, I took careful note of the crowd. I caught sight of Siesta, covering her mouth with both hands and looking so scared that she might become ill. I saw Louise as well, who looked resigned to not being able to stop what was about to happen. I even caught sight of Kirche and Tabitha. Though there was something different about Tabitha this time.

She wasn't holding a book. Instead she had locked her eyes on me with a stare so intense it was almost palpable. Only she had any inkling that something more than an uppity commoner getting a beat down was about to happen.

"My name is Guiche the Bronze. Therefore the bronze Golem, Valkyrie, shall be your opponent," he declared and from the place where a rose petal had fallen sprouted a tall suit of armor. A golem? And created so casually as well as interestingly.

'Let's try rook now. I don't think I need to use boosted gear for a lower-tier golem.'

"Promotion ROOK!" Saito shouted.

When the golem came at me, fist extended to deliver a painful blow to my diaphragm, I simply put my hand forward and caught the punch, bare fisted, with my left hand.

"What?" the surprised nobleman said, completely shocked that I had managed to stop what must have been several hundred pounds of metal without giving an inch.

I just delivered a blow to the golem's center and broke it in half. Dropping jaws was a mutual reaction for all present here. What looked like a simple punch had been powerful enough to destroy a golem!

"I-I-Impossible!" Guiche declared, white as a sheet while he stared at me. "You're just a commoner!"

"Promotion BISHOP!" Saito commanded.

A golden ball of fire formed in Saito's left hand and shot to Guiche, who screamed at the searing contact. The crowd gasped at the commoner's use of fire magic to burn a noble. How could a peasant be that powerful?!

"Don't worry, the flame won't kill you. It just made you feel an intense pain compared to normal, fire magic. But you can't die. It is very useful if you need to make someone suffer without killing him, don't you think so?"

"STOP IT!" yelled Louise.

"Okay, Master," Saito stopped producing the flame.

"What are you?" was all Guiche could say before he crumpled in an unconscious heap.

Saito made his way to Louise and smile at her.

"I win," Saito said, like it was normal for him to kill someone without even caring.

"What are you? What was that fire? What is 'promotion' and why did you hurt Guiche so badly?

"Louise, I think we need to talk, so come," Saito said and Louise nodded.

"We will come, too," said Kirche with Tabitha, and Siesta from behind them.

"You three don't need to hear this!" yelled Louise.

"No, that is fine. I trust you three, so you can come, too. But what you are going to hear is just for your ears…please don't tell anyone else, alright?" asked Saito.

"Yes, of course," answered Siesta.

"Sure," replied Kirche.

Tabitha nodded.

"Okay, let's go

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**Review if you like ****  
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	3. Saito Story I

_Review if you like and if you have any idea about the story send PM or anything about it_

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"Remind me why we are here in the dining hall!" asked Louise.

"I need a place where I won't be overheard and no one is here at this time of day, so it's perfect," Saito replied.

"Okay, it's fine, so let's start," said Kirche excitedly.

"Good. Siesta, please bring some tea. This will be a long discussion."

"I will be back as soon as I can, so please wait for a bit," replied Siesta.

"Now we are ready. First, I will answer your questions. Ask, and don't stop me when I start to answer," said Saito with a confident voice and all of the girls nodded.

"First, Louise…if you have questions about me, then ask" Saito told Louise.

"You use magic, but without a wand…so what you are? You can't be an elf, right?" asked Louise. Tabitha closed her book, placed it in her robe, and stared at Saito.

"You asked two questions, but that is fine. I'm not an elf. I'm a dragon, but a very special one," Saito explained, and all except Tabitha were shocked at his revelation. Tabitha seemed to expect some kind of amazing details.

"You are a dragon, but you are human? Dragons don't have human forms, and you don't have wings…are you trying to play a joke on me?" Asked Louise angrily, not believing that she had actually summoned a dragon.

"You don't really know much about dragons, but let me tell you that a few dragons can take human form. One of the dragon classes that you all know that can take human form is the Rhyme Dragon. But even then, not all dragons in a class can transform because of the magic needed to maintain it," Saito clarified.

"I don't think you believe me, so I will demonstrate. Here…." Saito stretched out his left hand. His audience watched in amazement as crimson scales and claws appeared. He slowly turned his 'palm' upward to reveal a ball of fire. "This is my dragon hand. I can transform a part of my body into that of a dragon, just like my arm," Saito told all the girls. "Is that good enough for you, Louise? Do you believe me now? Or do I need to burn something?" He asked.

"I believe you, but I've never seen or heard something like that in all my life," Louise responded.

Saito changed his arm back into his human form. "It is not really something that's widely known. In my world just nine dragons could take human form. At the moment, I'm the only dragon who can take human form and still use my power as a human. All of the other eight dragons have been inactive for more than five thousand years.

"Five thousand years? Just how old are you?" asked Louise, shocked about what she had just learned about her familiar.

"Six thousand years or so, but that is enough questions from you for now," Saito answered. "Kirche, do you have any questions?"

"Yes…yes, I do. What was the flame you used in your battle with Guiche? And are you a fire element dragon so that it means Louise will be a fire mage?"

"For your first question-the flame is called 'Flame of Soul' and it is a medium-tier flame. Your salamander might be able to use it, but I'm not sure. 'Flame of Soul' is a flame that doesn't burn the body; instead, it acts on the soul. It can kill someone if it is powerful enough to burn them completely. If not, the flame just makes you feel a pain worse than death. Normally the flame can't be controlled, but I can control it. My flame can burn the soul of a human in just five seconds, but I can also use it to make him feel very intense pain, like I did in the duel with Guiche. And as for your second question, I'm not a fire-element dragon. I can use many magic elements, so I don't know what Louise's element is," answered Saito, and Kirche is very "hot" over what the handsome dragon told her.

"Tabitha, you have some questions, no?" Saito asked.

Tabitha spoke just one word, "Promotion."

"You mean 'Knight Bishop' and 'Rook,' correct?" asked Saito. Tabitha nodded.

"Well you know what chess is, no?" Again she nodded.

"Well, five thousand years ago I died once, and a devil revived me with what is called 'Evil Pieces.' They are a system Devil's use to revive and reincarnate humans and other beings that are dead. 'Evil Pieces are like those from the game of chess: King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight and Pawns. Every piece has different abilities," said Saito. "And my pieces are Pawns, whose power is Promotion. With Promotion I can use any ability of a queen, rook, knight or bishop in different ways. Every person is worth a different number of pieces to be controlled by a devil, and each piece has its own valor."

"Queens are worth nine Pawns. Queens possess all the characteristics of Rooks, Knights, and Bishops, making them the most balanced piece, as well as the most powerful one. But only a woman can be a Queen.

"Rooks are worth five Pawns. Rooks gain superhuman strength, leading to high offensive and defensive power. However, they are not very quick, and can get beaten easily by a high-speed opponent.

"Knights are worth three Pawns. Knights gain increased speed and mobility, enabling them to perform high-speed attacks and maneuvers. However, their main weakness is their low defensive power, making them vulnerable to powerful attacks if they are not careful.

"Bishops are worth three Pawns. Bishops gain enhanced magical abilities which they can use to conjure up a multitude of spells. However, more powerful spells consume most of their magical power, which takes a long time to regain. This drawback forces them to use their power carefully or risk becoming vulnerable to physical attacks.

"Pawns are worth one Pawn each. The advantage of a Pawn is its ability to promote into a Queen, Rook, Knight, or a Bishop while in enemy territory, or with the permission of its King.

"A king has one Queen, two Knights, two Bishops, two Rooks and eight Pawns. It took all eight pawns for me to be reincarnated from a humanoid dragon to a devil dragon.

"There are also special pieces known as Mutation pieces. If reviving a person requires eight Pawns, then using one Mutation Piece would suffice to revive that person instead of using several pieces. Mutation Pieces can be a Queen, Rook, Knight, Bishop, or a Pawn. But now four of my Pawns are Mutation pieces, so I don't need permission; I can promote anywhere. Was this a good explanation for you, Tabitha?" Once again Tabitha nodded.

"Are you a DEVIL or a DRAGON?" screamed Louise.

"I am both a Devil and a Dragon," replied Saito.

"What is the name of your race?" asked Kirche.

"My race is made up of just two dragons, a red one and a white one. We are Heavenly Dragons."

"Heavenly? Wow, that is a good name, but are there just two dragons? You are the red one, right?" asked Siesta.

"Yes, I'm the red one, and the white one is my enemy… but she's also my friend, too," Saito answered.

"Name?" Tabitha asked.

Saito smiled. "My name is Sekiryutei, and the white one is named Hakuryukou."

"Sekiryutei and Hakuryukou are strange names, they don't make sense," Louise said.

"In my language, Sekiryutei means 'Emperor of Red Dragon' and Hakuryukou means 'Emperor of White Dragon,'" Saito said with a smile.

"Emperor? You are an emperor of dragons?" Kirche asked with lustful eyes.

"Something like that," Saito said. "So, do you have another question?"

"Yes, what are 'Sacred Gears?'" asked Louise.

Saito looked in disbelief. "Where did you hear about those items?" asked Saito.

"In my dream, a woman with a white gauntlet said something about a Sacred Gear, something divine," Louise informed Saito.

"Hahaha! The woman in your dream is the white one, and the gauntlet is the mark of Hakuryukou. It is called 'Divine Dividing.'" Saito continued to smile.

"The woman is your enemy? And the mark of a dragon…do you have one…like the gauntlet?" Louise asked.

"Actually, the woman is my both my enemy and my friend. And yes, I have something like that, too," Saito replied.

"Show me what you have," commanded Louise.

"Fine," Saito replied. A bright green light came from his left hand and revealed a crimson metal gauntlet with green jewels. This is it, my Sacred Gear, the mark of Sekiryutei. It is known as 'Boosted Gear,'" Saito explained.

"And what are 'Sacred Gears?' You still didn't tell me," Louise pressed Saito for more information.

Saito's Boosted Gear disappeared. "A Sacred Gear is a weapon given by God to a human and only humans can have one. Some of them have sealed beings in them, like Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing, who have Welsh Dragon and Vanishing Dragon," said Saito.

"But you say you are a dragon and now you say the Sacred Gears can only be given to a human."

"Yes, I was human with the Boosted Gear in me, and that Sacred Gear made me a dragon," replied Saito. "And a female Devil transformed me into a Devil Dragon after I died, so I'm not human now, but I was once. Sacred Gears do not disappear if you become a Devil or something else. You just need to be born human or half-human to have one. A human can have one or more Sacred Gear in his body-with thirteen exceptions-and can have a single ability per gear, again with thirteen exceptions. Some Sacred Gears are not very powerful, but they can help in normal life, while other Sacred Gears can be so powerful that you can kill a god with them," Saito explained.

"So powerful that you can kill a god? But there is only one God and nothing rivals His power. And what about the thirteen exceptions?" asked Louise.

"Louise, I assure you there is more than just one god. Sacred Gears are just for humans, but no one chooses if they can possess this power. You can have one sacred gear in you Louise, or maybe you, Siesta, can have one that can kill a god.

"A Sacred Gear does not care what you are; it just selects you at the moment of your birth. If you don't try to awaken your Sacred Gear, you are just going to die without ever using it; but a Sacred Gear doesn't die and can't be destroyed permanently. If the host dies, the Sacred Gear moves to a new host.

"A Sacred Gear is a part of your SOUL. Even if it is inactive, it can be stolen from you. If that happens, you will die." Saito continued, "And for the person who took the Sacred Gear, a lot of time is needed to prepare for a very difficult ritual in order to use it—if they are even able to use it. If the new host cannot use the power of the Sacred Gear, he will die because he cannot store more power in his body.

"And about the thirteen exceptions…there are thirteen special Sacred Gears whose powers, it is said, can kill a god if can be mastered. Unlike normal Sacred Gears, these items have more than one ability; the host of one of these gears can't have more than one Sacred Gear in his body," said Saito. "These Sacred Gears are called 'Longinus.' Two of these Longinus are my Boosted Gear and the Divine Dividing."

"What is the power of your Boosted Gear?" asked Louise.

"Well, its abilities are: Boost, which can double the user's power, and Transfer can transfer increased powers to other people or objects" Saito told his group of listeners.

"So we can have one of the Longinus in our bodies?" asked Siesta.

"Yes, you can, but I don't know if you really have one."

"Name," Tabitha demanded.

"You mean the names of the remaining Longinus?" asked Saito.

"Yes," Tabitha replied.

"The 13 Longinus are:True Longinus, Sephiroth Graal, Boosted Gear, Divine Dividing, Regulus Nemea, Innovate Clear, Absolute Demise, Dimension Lost, Zenith Tempest, Incinerate Anthem, Annihilation Maker, Canis Lykaon, and Telos Karma.

"I am having trouble believing that there are weapons that can kill God. And to think I summoned an Emperor Dragon, when I am a zero," Louise pondered aloud.

"Louise, I don't know what you are, but you are not a zero if you can summon someone like me from my prison. Maybe you have some Sacred Gears in you, or a new magic element that can't be used if you are trying to use the wrong magical element," Saito responded.

"A new element? I don't think so…I can only make explosions. You are just trying to make me feel better," Louise replied, clearly disappointed.

"Louise, I can feel the magic power in you. You have power—a lot of power-but it feels like it is sleeping. I think you have a power that will awaken with time, and that you can be a very powerful mage. I can help you with your magic if you want to learn some spells, but all of my spells are for battle," Saito offered.

"You mean I can learn something like your 'Flame of Soul?'" Louise inquired, a bit too happy.

"You can use magic, but for now, low-tier magic is your limit. You have power, but you can't use it yet. To try and use something like 'Flame of Soul' at your current level means you might kill yourself," Saito explained. "But I can teach you some fire magic and maybe some dark or demonic magic if you want. And then maybe we will be able to see if you have any Sacred Gears."

"Demonic or dark magic? Are you trying to get me executed? And I'm not a demon," Louise retorted frantically.

"You don't need to be a devil to use devil magic and dark magic is not something bad. It is a magic that is cast to kill, curse or to resurrect a dead body…I think it is also called necromancy."

"And it is not bad?"

"No. You can only use curse spells, and my 'Flame of Soul' can be considered a curse spell. All magic incantations that don't attack the body or mind can be called curse spells," said Saito. "And demonic magic is magic like mine where you don't need a wand, but you can make demonic ice, demonic fire, or any of the other magic elements. But it is a demonic element, so you don't need a wand. 'Flame of Soul' is demonic fire magic."

"So I can use demonic elements? What is different about demonic magic compared with normal magic?" asked Louise.

"Demonic magic has more power compared with normal magic, so spells are more powerful, but that is all."

"Fine, I will try to learn those kinds of magic."

"Good. So do any of you girls have something else to say?"

"So you are not a real dragon?" Kirche asked.

"No, now I'm a real dragon because the dragon's soul who is in my Boosted Gear is dead and his soul is in me and my body is a body made from the flesh and blood of a dragon. My first body was destroyed because of a curse, so now I'm a full dragon."

"Curse, what curse? And what dragon's spirit?" asked Kirche.

"This is a story for another time. Now is not necessary for you to know about something like that."

"Hmmm, fine," Kirche replied a bit unhappily.

"I think that is enough for now. We need to go. Tomorrow there will be class, and I hear there is a new teacher coming for Wind class, so we better finish here," said Saito.

"Fine, let's go, Tabitha. Good night, Louise," Said Kirche.

"I must go, too," said Siesta.

"Come, Louise, we have a busy day and need some sleep. And don't address me again with 'Familiar' or 'Commoner.' I have a name and it is Saito. And don't make a dragon wash your clothes. I don't intend to be you maid. And about my bed…make sure to do something about it. You don't want to have an angry Emperor of Dragon, right?" said Saito with a big smile.

"Hmm, no, I don't. Let's go, Welsh, tomorrow is a big day," said Louise happily, with a pleased smile.

"And Louise, don't tell anyone about me," Saito cautioned her.

"Okay," replied Louise.

* * *

**Review if you like.**

**And what Sacred Gear you think is good for Louise,Tabitha,Kirche and Hanrrieta?( if i'm going to give one)  
**


	4. A Angry Sekiryutei

Mister Colbert, a teacher who had dedicated twenty years to Tristain Magic Academy, was by now a mainstay figure. His Runic name was "Colbert the Flame Snake," thus naturally he was a mage specializing in fire magic.

Since the Springtime Familiar Summoning a few days ago, he'd been concerned about the commoner boy that Louise had summoned. Or more precisely, he'd been concerned with nothing but the runes that had appeared on that boy's left hand. They were rare runes indeed, so for the last few nights, he'd confined himself to the library and had been searching through various texts.

Tristain Magic Academy's library was located in the same tower as the dining hall. The bookshelves were unbelievably tall, about thirty feet in height, and the way they were lined up against the walls was a spectacle to behold; and rightly so, since this place was crammed with the history of everything that followed the creation of Halkeginia by the Founder Brimir.

Colbert was now in a section called "Fenrir's Library," where only teachers were allowed to enter. The ordinary bookshelves, to which students had free access, didn't hold any answers that could satisfy him.

He levitated up to an out-of-reach shelf and scanned it intently for a particular book. His efforts were rewarded as his gaze fell upon the title of the book. It was a very old text which held descriptions of the familiars that had been used by the Founder Brimir.

His attention was focused on one particular paragraph written in it, and as he read on in fascination, his eyes grew wide. He compared a drawing in the book with the sketch he'd made of the runes on the boy's left hand. "Ah!" he gasped in surprise. At that moment, he lost the concentration necessary for maintaining his Levitation and almost fell to the floor.

Holding the book in his arms, he hurriedly descended to the floor and ran out of the library. His destination was the Headmaster's Office.

* * *

The Headmaster's Office was located on the topmost floor of the tower. Sir Osmond, the current Headmaster of Tristain Magic Academy, was sitting with his elbows propped on his elegantly built sequoia desk, looking unbearably bored as he shook his white beard and hair.

Idly plucking out nose hairs, he slowly murmured, "Hrm," as he pulled open a desk drawer. From inside he procured a smoking pipe. Miss Longueville, the secretary who had been writing something at the other desk placed to the side of the room, waved her feather quill. The pipe floated into the air and landed in Miss Longueville's palm. Sir Osmond muttered dejectedly, "Is it fun taking away an old man's little pleasures? Miss, um..."

"Managing your health is also part of my job, Old Osmond."

Sir Osmond stood up from his chair and walked up to the cool and collected Miss Longueville. Stopping behind the seated lady, he closed his eyes, his expression grave.

"If the days keep passing by so peacefully, figuring out how to spend time is going to become a rather big problem."

The wrinkles etched deeply on Osmond's face were only hints to the history of his life. People guessed him to be a hundred years old, even three hundred. But his true age no one really knew. It's possible he himself didn't remember anymore either.

"Old Osmond," Miss Longueville spoke up without taking her eyes off the feather quill that was scribbling away on the parchment.

"What is it? Miss..."

"Please stop saying you have nothing better to do as an excuse to touch my bottom."

Sir Osmond opened his mouth slightly and began walking around in tottering steps.

"Please also refrain from pretending to be senile whenever a situation goes bad," Longueville added calmly. Sir Osmond sighed deeply. It was the sigh of a man bearing the weight of many troubles.

"Where do you think the ultimate truth may be? Haven't you ever wondered that? Miss..."

"Wherever it is, I assure you, it's not underneath my skirt, so please stop sneaking your mouse under the desk."

This "peaceful" moment was interrupted by a sudden intrusion. The door was thrown open with a slam, and Colbert rushed inside.

"Old Osmond!"

"What is it?"

Miss Longueville was back at her desk, sitting there as if nothing had happened. Sir Osmond had his arms behind him, and turned to face the visitor with a serious expression. That was certainly a quick recovery.

"I-I-I have some big news!"

"There is no such thing as big news. Everything is but a collection of small events."

"P-P-Please take a look at this!" Colbert handed Osmond the book he had been reading just before.

"This is 'The Familiars of the Founder Brimir,' is it not? Are you still going around digging up old literature like this? If you have time to do that, why don't you think up some better ways of collecting school fees from those slack nobles? Mister, err...what was it again?" Sir Osmond cocked his head.

"It's Colbert! You forgot?!"

"Right, right. Now I remember. It's just that you talked so fast I never really caught it. So, Colby, what is it about this book?"

"Please take a look at this also!"

Colbert then handed him the sketch of the runes on Saito's left hand.

The moment he saw that, Osmond's expression changed. His eyes took on a solemn light.

"Miss Longueville, would you please excuse us?"

Miss Longueville stood up and left the room. Osmond spoke only after he confirmed she was properly outside.

"Explain this to me with every detail, Mister Colbert..."

_'After some time!'_

"So it's true that she summoned Gandálfr?" Sir Osmond asked.

"Yes, and in a fight with Guiche de Gramont it seems that the boy can use magic without a wand, to cast a flame that doesn't burn.

"Is de Gramont still unconscious?"

"Yes, but his body is not hurt—there are no burns-so I don't know why he is still unconscious."

"Should we report it to the palace?"

"I believe it is not needed."

"But why? It is the biggest discovery"

"That's why it is not needed."

"But still...look at it, Old Osmond! Gandálfr is the familiar of the Founder Brimir! It is said that his incantations were so long that the enemy could strike him while chanting, so Gandálfr came into play!"

"Exactly, this means…."

"He could annihilate an army of one thousand all by itself! Ordinary mages were said to be no match for it!"

"Mr. Colbert, did you use Detect Magic on that young man?" Osmond inquired.

"Yes…at first it seems normal, but as he gains composure, I notice a different aura from him."

"Hmmmm. May I ask…does Ms. de la Valliere have the talent to summon a modern Gandálfr?"

"Well, they say she is quite the opposite…."

Sir Osmond shook his head and then said, "This is truly a horrifying, yet interesting, case. But in any case, the palace should not know that Gandálfr was summoned. Give the fool a weapon and war will commence."

"Yes…yes, Old Osmond!" Colbert replied.

Osmond just sighed and stared at the floor as he said, "Gandálfr was said to have the ability to wield any type of weapon…but this familiar uses magic….

Colbert agreed and replied, "Yes, sir, you are right."

* * *

"Wake up, Master, it's time for you to go have breakfast and attend your class."

Saito woke up Louise. She sat on the side of her bed and said, "Clothes."

Saito gave her the clothes, as he said, "I will wait outside by the door while you prepare for class." Saito then stepped out of the room.

Louise was at loss of words, but she cannot force a dragon to dress her.

"Thanks for the meal." Saito said gracefully before standing up.

"Where are you going?"

"To walk around for a while, so please excuse me." Then he walked out the door.

"I am still hungry…Siesta, you can come out…I will not bite you or anything," Saito spoke, and then Siesta came out of the corner where she was hiding.

"You are still hungry?" Siesta asked.

"Yes, I am. Even if Louise gives me more food, it is still not enough; and as a dragon, being hungry is very annoying."

"Come with me, I can give you some food."

"This soup is really delicious!" Saito complimented as he finished his fourteenth bowl, then starting on his fifteenth.

"Our champion has a big appetite!"

"Yes! But that's all right; he is "Our Sword," so why not give him more?"

Everyone in the kitchen was celebrating, because for the first time, someone with their status had put one of the nobles in their place.

Marteau, the head chef at Tristain Magic Academy, and the one who gave Saito the title "Our Sword" laughed and said, "Of course, my boy! We are serving the same stuff to the nobles! If I had known you earlier, I would have cooked some for you!"

"Thank you, I love eating good stuff!" Saito declared.

"Hahaha…You are making me blush! That is all right! Besides, you deserve it for dragging those nobles down; their heads are always in the sky, always thinking of themselves as gods!"

"Oh, that was nothing. Besides, he pissed me off."

"Pissed you off! I don't see that as a reason to burn him, but still you did a good job!"

"Thank"

"Siesta, why don't you bring him some wine," Marteau suggested.

Saito smiled, and then looked down at his bowl. It was empty…again.

"One more, please." Saito asked again.

* * *

"Where have you been?" asked Louise on the way to class.

"Just out for a walk, Master. Just a walk," Saito replied innocently.

Louise opened the door and entered the classroom with her familiar. All students gathered there turned and started to gossip, with things like, _"Look, there is Zero and her familiar"_ or "_Shush! Louise might have her familiar burn you, like he did with Guiche."_

"Hello, Darling," Kirche said to Saito, and all the boys looked at him venomously.

'If looks could kill, I'd be dead,'Saito thought with a grin.

"Hello, Kirche, and what's with 'darling'?" Saito asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"It means I'm in love with you. When I saw that flame, I fell in love. Your magic was so bright, so powerful." Kirche moved in closer for a kiss.

Saito didn't try to stop Kirche, letting her kiss him. He returned the kiss, knowing all eyes were on them. All of Kirche's admirers sent death glares toward Saito. When he stopped the kiss, he said, "That was a very good kiss, Kirche, but you need to have more than just a kiss and some words if you want to have me."

"That was the best kiss I've ever had," Kirche said with a purr of pleasure.

"Yes, I know I'm good," Saito responded with a big grin.

"YOU DOG! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHY DID YOU LET THAT SLUT KISS YOU? AND YOU, KIRCHE…HOW CAN YOU KISS ANOTHER PERSON'S _FAMILIAR_?"

"Louise, what I do and who I do it with is not your concern. Remember that and don't forget with whom you are speaking," Saito admonished Louise. Once again chatter erupted in the class, starting with murmurs like, _"Louise is afraid of her own familiar. What a zero!"_

Saito heard the barbs and noticed that Louise was almost crying. He let a bit of his aura flow, making it hard for the students to breathe, and then he said to the whole class, "If I hear any of you call my Master a 'zero' again, you are going to finish like Guiche." All the students felt outraged at being threatened by the peasant familiar, but when they remembered what happened to Guiche, they refrained from saying anything.

"Thank you, Saito," Louise said with a blush as the teacher entered the room. All the students looked in awe at the new teacher, a girl who, in Saito's opinion, couldn't be more than eighteen years old. She had crimson-colored hair clenched in a ponytail, red eyes, and was wearing a red skirt with a red-and-white striped shirt. A purple cloak draped around her shapely body.

_'Now that is what I call a beautiful witch,'_thought Saito.

"Hello, class. My name is Lily Trope, and I'm your new teacher for wind class. My runic name is 'Hurricane,' and I'm a square mage." Everyone in class looked at her with both fear and respect.

"Hey, Louise. What's with all of you…is there something big about this person?" Saito whispered.

"That woman is one of most powerful wind-element mages in Tristain. And being a square mage at her age is something like a prodigy."

"Hmm…and why would such a powerful person be here?"

"I don't know."

"You, boy! What do you think you're doing?" Miss Trope asked, looking to Saito.

"I just asked my Master about you, and what such a powerful mage is doing here," Saito replied.

"What's your name, boy? Servants are not allowed in class."

"I'm not a servant…I'm a familiar, and my name is Hiraga Saito."

"I've heard about you. You are that boy who used a strange magic to battle a noble. Very impressive."

"Thank you, but it was boring to fight Guiche. He is very weak. You are at least ten times more powerful than him."

"You can feel my magic power?"

"Yes, and it is very powerful."

"Thank you," Lily said with a blush, but Saito just smiled.

"You don't need to thank my Miss Trope" Saito say with a grin

"Lily is fine we have same age"

"Well nice to meet you Lily"

"Yes my to now sit down i want to continue" Lily say and Saito sit down but Louise is angly because her familiar and new teacher that from Louise point of view is a beauty and don't let slide and yell at Saito low just for him to hear.

"What wrong with you to speak with a teacher like is you friend, Crimson Womanizer Emperor"

* * *

Saito's P.O.V.

"Where are we going, Louise?" I asked.

"Into the city to buy you a new sword."

"Sword? I already have one."

"It's a present for your help," Louise informed me, blushing.

"Fine…you win. So let's go," I said.

"But we need to take a horse to get there."

"Did you forget?"

"Forget what?" Louise appeared confused.

I opened the window and lifted Louise into my arms, bridal style.

"Kyaah! What are you doing?"

"In case you forgot, I'm a dragon and dragons can fly," I smirked as two crimson dragon wings appeared from my back. I quickly jumped out the window.

"Kyaah! Stupid familiar! What are you doing?!" Louise shrieked as she locked her hands together behind my neck.

"Flying is more fun. Just relax…I'm not flying that fast, so everything is fine."

After a few minutes, Louise nodded and began to relax. After an hour or so, Louise and I reached the city and I made my wings recede back into my body.

"Well, I could say my city is better than this," I commented. We were walking on a street filled with people; vendors were selling their wares, and I noticed that the road was a little narrow.

"Why do you say that?" Louise asked.

"Our roads were smoother and wider, not to mention cleaner; also when you walk down the street, you could see that there was law and order."

"That's nice…Oh, look! There is the weapons shop." It was in a building with a sword-shaped sign displayed above the door. I followed Louise into the shop.

"Ah! A customer! What would you like…Oh, a noble! What it is you want, seeing that you visited my humble shop?" a man with a crafty look on his face greeted us. 'Hehehe. Nobles…like they know anything about weapons. Suckers!' the shop-keeper thought with glee.

"I would like a sword for my familiar; don't you have one that befits him?" Louise inquired.

"Ahh, I see…." The vendor rubbed his hands together and then he walked into his storeroom. When he returned, he was carrying a long, narrow box. He opened it, to reveal a longsword with jewels embedded in its hilt and guard. It looked grand, actually.

"It's the best in the shop," he began his pitch. "Hand crafted by Germanian master alchemists. The sword will cut through iron like butter," he declared, as I carefully inspected the blade.

"It's an exquisite blade, but it's useless," an unknown voice commented.

With a quick move I reversed the blade and offered it back to the salesman. "It's exquisitely crafted, but it best serves as a decorative piece." I smiled at him. "Perhaps we could try again with a more functional piece?"

The shopkeeper looked astonished by my accurate appraisal of blade in front of him while Louise looked impressed. She took a cue from me and spoke up as well. "As you can see, my familiar has a fine eye for steel. If you can satisfy his standards, then there will be a good bonus for yourself as well."

Changing his tone entirely, he asked me politely, "And what specifics should I look for?"

"I'd prefer a long sword length, and single edged." He nodded his affirmative.

From the same corner as earlier, the strange voice broke out into baying laughter. "Looks like the boy knows what he wants, eh salesman?"

A quick glance confirmed what I suspected. I casually rubbed my eyes, and looked again. The voice rang out again, "Got something in your eyes, eh kiddo?"

"Louise," I asked calmly. "Did that sword just speak?"

She eyed the talking blade, too. "Yes, it certainly seems so, Saito."

"Tell you what, throw some gold at that man over there and I'll let you be my partner!" The sword continued, "What's your name?"

"Hiraga Saito," I said.

"What a strange name!"

"I get that all the time…well if you have sentience, you must have a name."

"Call me Derflinger. Wait…Master Derflinger is much better…call me that."

"That's too long; I will just call you Derf."

"Hey! Show some respect!"

I ignored the rant from the sword, and then he approached the shopkeeper.

"This sword interests me, how much is he?" I asked in a mild tone.

"One hundred gold would be enough."

"Hey Master, he said the sword costs one hundred gold."

Louise reached for her wallet. "Here are the one hundred gold coins."

"It's good to be outside again! Ahhhhh…a fresh breeze!" Derflinger happily commented.

"Well, I am gonna clean you later."

Normal P.O.V.

Saito and Louise arrived at the campus later that afternoon, they rested for a while, and then Saito left Louise to eat again in the kitchen. When he arrived, the kitchen seemed a little different. It was not as lively as usual. Saito saw Marteau in a quiet state while peeling the potatoes.

"Hey, Old Man, why is everyone acting as if someone died?" Saito asked.

"Well…."

"By the way, where is Siesta? I haven't seen her for a while."

Marteau hesitated at first, but then he finally answered, "She was taken to serve a noble…It's almost the same as if she died."

"But why?"

"You don't know? Maids that are handpicked to serve nobles do not serve as maids; they become slaves of pleasure…poor Siesta."

"WHAT? I will bring her back," Saito spoke in a low, deliberate voice. He spun on his heel, intent on going after Siesta.

"Are you serious? The noble is Count Mott! He is an official! He will kill you and still get away with it!"

"Darling! I've been searching for you!"

Saito stopped walking when he saw Kirche approaching him. "Do you know this Count Mott?" he whispered in a forced tone.

"Why, yes, I've heard that he is quite lecherous…what do you want with him?"

"Don't worry; just tell me where he lives?"

"North of here…it would take you three hours to…Hey, wait!"

Saito did not wait to hear all that Kirche had said, he quickly strode out.

When he arrived at the garden, he looked around, and when he saw nothing….

"**Over-boost**"

**[Welsh Dragon Over-Booster!]**

"**Welsh Sonic Boost Knight**"

**[Change Star Sonic]**

A green light emerged, and Saito, in his Sonic Knight armor, runs to Count Mott's mansion.

"Partner, what the hell is this armor you wear, and how can you move so fast?" Derf asked.

"Now is not the best time to explain everything, Derf, so shut up while I run at full speed."

"What?" Derf said.

"**Armor Release**"

And Saito begins to run with the speed of a god. In ten minutes he arrived at Count Mott's mansion and he stopped using Balance Breaker.

"Partner, you need to give me some kind of explication, but for now, let's go save the girl!"

"Okay, fine," Saito says angrily.

A guard spotted him and raised his spear. "Halt, what you are doing on Count Mott's estate?"

"I just want to see Count Mott. I have a message for him."

"I see, follow me."

Saito then met Count Mott in the living room, where he had just finished eating.

"What do you want?" Count Mott asked Saito in an arrogant tone.

"Release the maid that you bought, now."

"What? Are you out of your mind, commoner? You disturbed me just to ask that?"

"Well, I am asking nicely. Release her."

"Not only have you barged into my home, you dare to threaten a noble like me? Guards, surround him! I don't care if you kill him!"

Then six fighters entered the room with shields and spears, ready to attack. They surrounded Saito. The guards were confident that they could apprehend and subdue the intruder.

"I don't have time for you…get out of my way. NOW!" And all six of the defenders fell unconscious.

"What have you done, commoner?" asked Count Mott in fear.

"Just rendered them unconscious. I don't like to kill people who don't have anything to do with the conflict," Saito threw his answer back like a threat. "Now release the maid or you're going to experience excruciating pain real soon.

"You fool! I am a triangle-class, water mage! Don't underestimate the power of a noble like me!" Count Mott then raised his wand and the water in a nearby vase suddenly rose up and flew with great speed straight at Saito, mimicking the movements of the wand in Count Mott's hand.

"Water Spear!" Count Mott conjured up seven spears of water and aimed them at Saito; but Saito just stood still and moved his right arm.

**[Divide]**

Suddenly all of the liquid spears just disappeared and a white gauntlet appeared on Saito's right arm.

"Commoner, what did you do? No, you are not a commoner…what are you?" asked Count Mott nervously.

"_**Your worst nightmare**_," Saito's voice declared, full of power and authority. Count Mott began to shake noticeably; all of his bravado had fled.

A powerful punch landed against Count Mott's stomach, and he uttered a cry in pain at what felt like the fist of a steel golem.

"Release Siesta NOW, or next time I attack you I will rip your heart from your chest!"

"Fine, I will release her."

"Saito!"

Siesta hugged him tightly, as she cried tears of happiness.

"Now, now…it's alright. Can you let me go now? I am getting suffocated," Saito gently replied.

"Sorry! I am sorry that I didn't say it to you, I don't want you to worry about me."

"That's all right. Shall we leave this place?"

Even though they were leaving, all the guards were still on high alert. Saito carried Siesta in his arms as they quickly covered a considerable distance. They arrived back at the Magic Academy in one hour.

"Thanks," Siesta said as she bowed down.

"Don't mention it."

"Why did you take such a risk to save me? I am just a commoner…."

"We are friends, and you are a person I hold dear, so I had to help you."

"Oh, by the way…." Siesta then kissed Saito on the lips before she ran back to her quarters, blushing furiously. Saito hand reached up to his lips; he was very surprised.

Suddenly Derflinger spoke. "Hey, Master, I didn't know that you were a chick magnet!"

"Shut up!" was the only thing he spoke.

* * *

If you want chapter 5 fast,review and i try finish faster. If you not i finish to but you have to wait 2 weeks or more i don't hurry if no on want it. Well enjoy chapter 4 i know is short but i try to make longer if i can. Now i want to ask you all some think plis ask in PM or review.

What DxD character you want to be in the story in future.

Rias

Akeno

Asia

Xenovia

Irina

Kiba

Gasper

Koneko

Ophis

Hakuryukou _( i put him anyway like a familiar of void like Saito or something else and is not going to be the Girl i say is Saito friend if you have another idea about what to put him tell my)_ **P.S:Is** **going to by a girl not a boy**


	5. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt

**_Review If you want the story to continue._**

* * *

In Tristain, there was a mage thief by the name of "The Crumbling Dirt," who had every noble in the country cowering in fear. This one's full name was actually Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt.

When Fouquet heard that a noble in the North had a jeweled crown, he would go all the way there to steal it. When Fouquet heard that a noble in the South had a staff bestowed by the king as a family treasure, he broke through fortified walls to steal it. In the East, none of the best pearl rings, crafted by the artisans of the White Islands, remained in any mansion. Fouquet also eagerly took possession of a priceless bottle of well-aged wine from a winery in the West. The thief was everywhere.

Fouquet's tactics range from stealthy infiltration to outright breaking and entering. The national bank had been attacked in broad daylight, and houses were silently looted in the depth of night. In any case, Fouquet's tactics simply left the royal guard's mages in the dust.

Fouquet's trademark tactic was the use of alchemy to enter targeted rooms, turning doors and walls to dirt and sand, and then walking in through the gaping holes. The nobles were not stupid, of course, they all had tried to magically "solidify" everything around their treasures in an attempt to stop the alchemy; but Fouquet's magic was simply too strong, nullifying everything, fortified or not, into dirt.

If Fouquet decided to muscle his way in, a thirty-foot-tall, dirt golem was used. By tossing aside guard mages and shattering castle walls, he boldly took priceless prizes in broad daylight.

No one had ever seen Fouquet's appearance up close. Nobody even knew for sure whether he was a man or a woman. All they knew with certainty was that Fouquet had to be at least a Triangle-class mage of the earth element, that he preferred treasures and artifacts of great magical power, and that he left provoking little notes at the scene of every robbery. Notes like:

**_Now I've got your treasure._**

**_–Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt_**

* * *

*In Louise's room*

"How careless of me. I completely forgot about the exhibition."

"Exhibition?" Saito asked.

"It's the annual, campus-wide exhibition of the familiar spirits we have summoned."

"If you don't like it, just don't participate in it," Saito said.

"It's mandatory for second years!"

"I don't want to be humiliated. Since I have you, I thought you can do some impressive magic…or use some of you dragon power, but…."

"Why do you care about being respected by the other kids? All of your classmates already know about you and what I can do, so I don't think it is going to change a thing, even if I summon a chimera or do something impressive."

"Because Princes Henrietta is coming to see this year's exhibition," Louise said plaintively.

"So you want to let the Princess see what you-or better said-I can do?"

"Yes, I do not want to be a 'zero' anymore, and the exhibition would make a good chance for me."

"Fine, Louise, I will help you with the exhibition, but don't expect to win…I'm good in battle, not magic shows," Saito replied.

"It is fine; even if I don't win…I just don't want to be embarrassed."

"Fine. I will think of something to do in the exhibition. Today, I'm not going to class with you."

"Good…tell me what you're going to do after class."

"...Fine," Saito said and jumped out the window.

"Idiot familiar! I really want him to learn how to enter and exit my room in the normal way—through the door."

* * *

*Courtyard*

"You can't ask for a performance all of a sudden," Saito said.

"Well, Partner, good luck…looks like you need it," Derf offered.

"What a good partner you are, Derf. At least give me some idea. Don't you know any tricks?"

"Don't fool around with me. I'm only for use in real combat."

"What should I do? DAMN!" Saito yelled in frustration.

"What are you doing, Saito?" Siesta asked.

"Oh, Siesta, what are you doing here?"

"Were you practicing for the exhibition?"

"Yes, if talking with your sword counts as practicing. Yes, I am…but how did you guess?"

"Because all of the second-year students are training. Especially this year, since Princess Henrietta will be here."

"Yes, I heard from Louise about the Princess."

* * *

*Training*

Kirche worked to train Flame to breathe fire, Guiche stared adoringly at his familiar, Montmorency put a ribbon atop the head of her frog familiar, and Tabitha...all Tabitha did was read a book.

"Well, all of them are working hard in one way or another."

"So the princess is going to come and watch."

"Miss Henrietta became a symbolic figure after Our Highness passed away."

"So she's popular," Saito surmised.

"Hahaha…the royal gift will be mine!" Kirche laughed as she pressed Flame to try and burn Guiche.

"I see…so some people have that as their goal," Saito said to no one in particular.

"We're busy with the preparations for welcoming her, so good luck with you presentation," Siesta said before she walked away.

* * *

*Vault Door*

"Please guard the front gate on the day of the event," Colbert said to the guards.

"Yes, Sir," A couple of guards responded.

"Mr. Colbert, you moved guards from the treasure vault to the front gate?" Miss Longueville asked.

"Well, it's a sudden visit, so we're short on people," explained Mr. Colbert.

"But I heard that Fouquet is after the treasure in the vault here."

"Well, I doubt there is a thief who is willing to come around here while Her Highness' guards are present."

"Also, a Triangle-class mage won't have a chance against this door."

"Our guards here are more or less just for show, to appease the royal palace," Mr. Colbert admitted.

"That's true," Miss Longueville said.

* * *

*Arrival of the Princess*

Everyone stood in a line, and the carriage of the princess, drawn by unicorns, marched inside at a normal pace, with the princess smiling and waving, while Cardinal Mazarin kept a stern face. That was until the unicorns came to an abrupt halt. Fear ran through their eyes, and they began screeching.

"Damn! Why do there have to be unicorns here?" Louise heard Saito say.

"Why do you say that?" Louise asked curiously.

"I think the unicorns are agitated because of my presence. It is said that a unicorn will scream only in the presence of evil. I'm going to increase my aura a bit to make the unicorns run or someone else might detect me. Bear with it for a bit," Saito said and a heavy pressure was put above everyone. The crowd in the courtyard slowly slid to the ground, except for Louise and Saito; but Louise had a very hard time resisting the force of Saito's aura.

The team of unicorns, who could discern Saito's aura of pure evil, and power, broke their bonds. The carriage was left without a team as the beasts desperately bolt for freedom. After the unicorns run away, Saito allowed his aura to return to normal.

Nobody uttered a word; Louise didn't know what to say, but she knew for a fact that the princess' reputation was going to be tarnished by this. The headmaster hurriedly ran to the carriage, which, once opened, revealed a really shocked princess and a very angry Regent.

"I want the culprit for this thing now!" the regent yelled as he descended from the carriage. "Which of you harbors such bloodlust? Is it a familiar?"

Louise turned her gaze to Saito, but didn't say anything.

Princess Henrietta, however, just smiled. She had violet hair, and clear blue eyes. Saito gauged that she wasn't more than seventeen years old. The headmaster, still bowing profusely, made way for the royal entourage to enter the academy.

* * *

*Night before the Exhibition, in Louise's room*

"So what trick you going to do tomorrow?" Louise asked.

"Well, I'm going to fight with some golem summon by Mr. Colbert, " Saito answered.

"You're serious? He is a Square-class mage, and his golem won't be anything like what Guiche summoned."

"Wait and you will see what I can do."

***Knock, Knock*** A light rap at the door

"Just who can it be at the hour?"

"I'm going to open the door," Saito went to the door, but not before he picked up Derf. When Saito opened it, a mantled figure entered swiftly, rushing at Louise. Saito moved to stand before Louise and pointed Derf at the mysterious visitor's throat. The stranger stopped his advance.

"Who are you?" Saito spoke with purpose.

"Louise Françoise!" the mantled figure said, dropping the hood of the cloak, revealing their face to Saito and Louise. "Surprise!"

Louise stared in embarrassment at the princess, and then kneeled down. Saito lowered his sword and stepped back.

"Please forgive my familiar, Your Highness," Louise pleaded.

"Raise you head, Louise Françoise," Princess Henrietta said.

"Saito, say you're sorry and kneel down," Louise demanded.

"I don't have anything to be sorry for, Louise. I couldn't see her face because of the mantle; for all I know, she could have been an assassin who wanted to kill you. So I stopped her from advancing. And I don't bow down to a person unless they have more power than me." Saito said to Louise, who wanted to complain, but didn't do it.

"It is fine, Louise Françoise. Your familiar was just trying to protect you. I'm very happy that you have someone like him to protect you," Princess Henrietta said graciously.

"Please, Your Highness, I'm humbled by your kind words," Louise replied, kneeling down with her head bowed low.

"You two know each other? Saito asked.

"I was Her Highness' playmate when we were little."

"Louise Françoise," the princess said, puffing her cheeks, "please say we were childhood friends. We used to run and play tag, and get all dirty. We would get scolded then; and you'd always win our fights."

"Not always…once I didn't," Louise said.

"Yes, once you did not. Stand up, friend of mine, and call me nothing more than Henrietta," as she said that, Louise actually stood up. Then both girls hugged each other happily.

*After a not-so-long discussion*

"I need to go now, Louise, or the guards will start searching for me. Good luck tomorrow."

"Good night," Louise said before Henrietta pulled up the hood of her mantle and left the room.

* * *

*Day of Exhibition*

"We will now start this year's Familiar Exhibition," Mr. Colbert announced.

Kirche and Flame displayed an intricate flame; the frog familiar of Montmorency danced; Guiche, along with his mole familiar, Verdandi, posed on a bed of roses; and Tabitha sat on the back of her dragon as it soared through the sky.

"Next, Miss Louise de la Valliere and her familiar, Saito."

"Let me introduce my familiar spirit, Hiraga Saito, he will battle with a golem made by Mr. Colbert," Louise said, and all the audience waited impatiently for Saito's demonstration to begin.

"Now if you want to summon your most powerful golem," Saito prompted Colbert, who just nodded before summoning a twelve-foot-tall, five-thousand-pound stone golem.

"Attack!" Mr. Colbert commanded, and the golem started advancing on Saito.

"Promotion Knight!" Saito spoke quickly. Saito used Knight, drew Derf, and started to attack the golem.

First the golem tried to hit Saito with a punch, but Saito just disappeared from sight and reappeared behind the golem. With a single move, he cut the golem in half. The halves re-formed into two golems, who moved to attack Saito at the same time, from different directions. Saito used his speed to move again and reappear four feet away from the golems.

"Boosted Gear" Saito said and a crimson, metal gauntlet appeared on Saito's left hand. No one knew where the gauntlet came from, or how it functioned, but its form was definitely different; even Headmaster Osmond and Princess Henrietta wondered about the gauntlet.

"Promotion Rook," Saito said and started to block attacks from the golems.

"It is time to start what we're going to do, Derf," Saito told his sword.

"You're sure it is going to happen, Partner?" Derf asked.

"Who knows…here I come!"

"Boost"

[Boost]

The golems started to attack again, but Saito just blocked their attacks, moved back, then closed in to attack again.

[Boost]

Three golems came at Saito, two of them had weapons and the last one was just bare-handed. Saito grabbed one of the golems and threw it at the other two. It collapsed into a pile of boulders.

[Boost]

"Just two more, Derf."

"Yes, let's do it!"

"_Ignite!_" Saito yelled, and a wave of fire came out of the ground, between him and the golems.

[Boost]

A golem tried to throw his weapon through the fire. But nothing came out. 'The golem can't attack if the fire doesn't disappear,' Colbert reasoned, as he watched the progress of the fight. 'I think the fire is for something other than an attack, but I don't know what…but what intrigues me more is how he made the fire appear…and what he is going do next.'

[Boost]

When the last Boost was heard, the fire started to fade away.

"What is the fire for?" Unable to contain his curiosity, Colbert threw the question at Saito. Most of the audience who watched the presentation, even Princess Henrietta, wanted to hear his answer.

"I needed some time to use something, so I used the wall of fire to stop your golems from attacking, but now my plan is ready to go."

"Promotion Bishop" Saito said.

"Ready, Derf?" Saito yelled at his sword.

Derf called back to him, "Ready, Partner…let's see what you have."

"What are you going to do?" Colbert probed.

"I'm going let you see what real fire magic is!"

"What?" Colbert asked, indignant about Saito's remark. But most of all, he wanted to see what Saito could do, so he let slide for now.

[Transfer]

"Transfer!" exclaimed Saito, and a great amount of magic transferred to Deaf from a very bright light. After the magical glow faded away, jaw-dropping-surprise could be seen on the faces of all who were watching-even Headmaster Osmond, Princess Henrietta and her guards—because Saito's sword was twice its original size and covered in a visible cloud of energy.

"Let's finish this in one blow, Derf," Saito said and raised the enchanted sword above his head, pointing it toward the sky.

"Yes, let's do it!" Derf agreed.

"Derf, burn the golems with '_Flames of Purgatory_!' Saito commanded, and from the ground five pillars of fire appeared to annihilate both the golems in only a few seconds. The pillars are so high that they look like they can stab the sky directly.

After the pillars of fire disappear, anyone who saw how Louise's familiar had battled showed their approval with loud cheering and clapping—even the Princess' Royal Guards.

"Good work, Derf. I'm impressed…you were not destroyed by the amount of magic you stored away. A normal sword, even a magic one, can't accept half of the power I transferred to you," Saito praised his sword, while taking notice of the jubilant cheering from his audience.

"I'm not a normal sword, Partner, so be a bit more confident in me," Derf advised Saito.

"Yes. If I can bring you back to your normal form, I think you can be a really great sword. See where I transferred magic into you? Your rust is starting to fade, so I think you need to absorb more magic to get back to your original strength. But I think you need magic from an attack, not from me. Anyway, it is good to have a sword that can absorb so much magic."

* * *

*Vault Door*

'Just by looking at it, I didn't think it would be so hard to break into this Vault,' Fouquet thought to himself.

"We'll now move on to the judging portion of the Familiar Exhibition," Colbert's announcement could be heard in the distance.

"I'm out of time," Fouquet cursed.

"And now the winner will be Miss Tabitha and her dragon familiar, Sylphid."

"Heeeee! Saito didn't win?" Louise asked with obvious disappointment.

"That's normal, if you ask me. I just blew something up, and even if it was powerful, this is just an exhibition; so I think Tabitha was better than me this time."

"Well if you say so. Let's go, we're finished here," Louise said.

"Okay."

"I really think we were better," Louise said.

"Let it be, Louise," Saito replied. "You just wanted to p-,"

"Haa! Wait, what is that?" Louise and Saito looked upwards, craning their necks to see all of it. "G-Golem?" Louise stuttered with surprise.

"Looks like you're out of luck," Fouquet said and tried to crush Louise and Saito with her golem's hand.

"Louise, run away! I'll stop him," Saito said as he drew Derf. He moved quickly to cut the golem's hand off, but he watched in silence as it grew back. "Damn! Finally I'll get a good training session. Louise, run!" Saito yelled again.

"Saito, stay still…I'll help you," Louise said as she pulled out her wand.

"You idiot! I told you to run! What do you think you can do?" Saito hollered at his Master.

"Yn ex dest flame…Fireball!" Louise yelled as she pointed her wand at the golem, but all she managed to achieve was an explosion in the castle's outer wall.

*A big explosion is heard throughout the Magic Academy's grounds*

"Louise, what the hell did you do?" Saito roared angrily.

"How is that a fireball?" Fouquet laughed.

*crack, crack*

"The wall..." Louise croaked in horror as she watched it slowly begin to crumble.

"Was that even magic?" Fouquet asked jeeringly. "Anyway, it's lucky for me!" he laughed, before calling out, "Go, golem!" The golem punched the cracked wall and easily destroyed it.

"What was that?"

"Protect Her Highness!"

"Golem." Tabitha said.

All the Royal Guards and Professors came running to where Saito and Louise were. They found Saito fighting with a golem and Fouquet exiting from the Vault with a box in hand.

"Golem run," Fouquet ordered his golem to retreat after he obtained the box labeled 'Staff of Destruction.'

"No, I won't let you get away," Saito yelled and jumped to attack Fouquet, but the golem turned to throw a punch at Louise. Saito saw this and hurried to protect Louise. "Damn you, coward!" Saito exclaimed and summoned his Boosted Gears and promoted to knight.

"_Aegis!_" Saito yelled and a hexagonal white shield blocked the golem just a foot away from crushing Louise. But it was already too late to catch Fouquet. He planned to thank his golem later.

"Damn it, you piece of dirt-just disappear already!" Saito yelled angrily before his Boosted Gear to activate himself.

**[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]**

'What the hell happened? I didn't use my Boosted Gear, so why did it activate, and why could it do Unlimited Boost if it wasn't in Balance-Breaker? Damn! Now is not the time to think about it…I'm going to destroy that thing,' Saito thought, not knowing what was wrong with his Sacred Gear.

[Explosion]

In Saito's hand a red sphere formed and it absorbed in Boosted Gear jewels. A red line of demonic power blew half of the golem's abdomen away, turning it back to dirt and sand.

'That wasn't as powerful as I know it could be, but it did a good job anyway.' Saito determined.

* * *

*In the Vault*

_I have the Staff of Destruction_

_-Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt_

Old Osmond read what Fouquet wrote on the wall of the vault. "She really did steal it...how was she able do it?"

"Louise, you're fine. I'm so happy!" Princess Henrietta said to Louise.

"Yes, Your Highness, I'm fine, thanks to Saito. He saved me," Louise said sheepishly.

"Thank you for saving my friend," the Princess said, but Saito didn't reply back; he just nodded his head toward her.

"Your Highness, we need to leave," One of the guards said while bowing his head respectfully.

"Yes, I'm going to report the incident to palace. Until we met again, Louise," Princess Henrietta said before she turned to leave.

"Are you angry?" Louise asked Saito.

"Yes, Louise, I'm angry because you didn't run when I told you. If not for you, Fouquet would have been caught by now. And if not for your failed Fireball spell, she wouldn't even have been able to enter the vault in first place and stolen that thing," Saito said angrily to Louise, who didn't say anything back.

"And I really don't like that I let someone escape even more. If it is weaker than me it makes me look like an idiot. And since we let him escape, he is going to know how to fight with me next time," Saito continued to lecture Louise.

"Tell me, Louise, why didn't you run?" Saito asked now in a lower voice.

"Because a wizard can't call himself a wizard if he runs and lets his familiar do the fighting," Louise explained.

"Louise, what you should do is let me fight because you can't. I told you to run because I knew something like this was going to happen if you stayed around. In a battle, if you have a weak point you need to make sure it can't be used by your enemy; and Louise, you are my weak point because you can't fight. So it is normal for the enemy to try and attack you to keep me from attacking them," Saito said before continuing with, "And Louise, what you did was nothing short of foolish. If you know you can't win, run! You have me now…don't forget that I can protect you. Fighting that golem wasn't really a problem, but I can't do that if I need to save you from being crushed all the time," Saito finished his reprimand.

"Yes, thank you, and I'm sorry because I caused you a problem," Louise said meekly.

"It is not a problem, so don't worry about it…just don't do again. I don't want to lose a friend ever again," Saito said.

"'Lose a friend'…what are you talking about?" Louise asked.

"Nothing important. Don't worry-and I'm sorry about this-but I'm going to pass out for a bit…I used up too much power, so I don't have any energy left." Saito warned Louise before he collapsed on to the ground.

"Saito! I need to move you now. Hey, Guiche! I need you to help me…if you don't want to be burned again," Louise said.

"F-Fine. I'll help you."

* * *

***In Louise's room***

_***In Saito's mind, in his Boosted Gear***_

Saito saw a red space with nothing but a table and twelve seats. No one was here but Saito and...a blonde woman with pointed ears.

"What is an elf doing here? Who are you? And more importantly, why does this space still exist?" Saito wondered.

"_I am..._"

_**To be continued**_

* * *

Chapter 5 enjoy it and review if you want to be made more fast.

Now about the vote. Is like the:

Rias:7 vote (3st)

Akeno:5 vote

Asia:4 vote

Xenovia:3 vote

Irina:3 vote

Kiba:4 vote

Gasper:4 vote

Koneko:5 vote

Ophis:16 vote (1st)

Hakuryukou:8 vote (2st)

So Ophis is gone appear in the story but not like a loli gothic girl i made Ophis a bit more mature ( is a Illustrations in Volume 6 of light novel of DxD where ophis is more mature, like the is gone to look), and i'm gone put Hakuryukou in the story becouse Saito realy need someone to fight more the some second

P.S: Hakuryukou is gone appear first time where Albion and Tristain fight in Tarbs (Siesta vilage) but is not gone appear direct, you going to see what i say if i continue the story ( and no i don't abbandon the story so don't ask me in PM if i'm gone stop write) and i don't know yet but i think i made Saito to destroy Tarbs in a fight with Hakuryukou but i don't know yet, what did you think is a good idea?


	6. Incinerate Anthem

***In Louise's room***

*In Saito's mind, in his Boosted Gear*

Saito saw a red space with nothing but a table and twelve seats. No one was here but Saito and a blonde woman with pointed ears. "What is an elf doing here? Who are you? And more importantly, why does this space still exist?" Saito wondered.

"I am...

* * *

I am Sasha the Gandálfr, nice to meet you Sekiryutei."

"Why are you here?"

"My soul is sealed in the rune on your hand, but something happened and I was transferred to your Boosted Gear."

"What does the rune mean? I can't read it, even with devil magic."

"The rune means 'Gandálfr,' or as the humans named it, 'Left Hand of God.' This is your title as a familiar; the primary power of a Gandálfr is absolute mastery of any item meant for combat. On physical contact with such an item, the Gandálfr's rune will glow, and you will gain heightened strength, agility, endurance, and reflexes in addition to complete proficiency over the weapon. These reinforcements linger only for a while when the power is deactivated. But from what I see, the rune can't be used for Boosted Gears; so I made some 'changes' to let you use Boosted Gears as a weapon, because of the sword you have sealed in him. In times of need, I can control Boosted Gears myself, to a certain level."

"So this is the reason Boosted Gears activated itself, and then boosted without delay?"

"Yes," Sasha replied.

"OK, so now you are going to stay in Boosted Gears?"

"I don't have much choice, so that is how I will stay."

"Well, that is fine with me…at least I have someone who can look after Ddraig's 'grave' for me."

"You are sure about it?"

"It is not like you or someone else can open it, '_Great Red and Ophis excluded'_, so it is not a problem."

"Well, now you better wake up, because we can speak even when you are awake."

"Fine, let's meet again, Sasha."

* * *

*****In Louise's room*****

"Damn, this is weird," Saito spoke as he awoke in a bad mood.

"What is weird?" asked Louise.

"Just a weird dream, so don't worry. So how did you manage to bring me here?" asked Saito.

"Guiche helped," Louise replied.

"Well, what about Fouquet? Has something been done about her?"

"No, nothing until now."

"Damn!" Saito cursed under his breath, but Louise didn't hear.

"Don't worry…we are going to find Fouquet sooner or later," Louise assured Saito.

"I hope so."

***Knock, Knock*** A light rap sounded at the door.

"Enter," Louise spoke.

"The Headmaster needs your presence, Miss de La Vallière, along with your familiar," one of the teachers told Louise.

"Thanks. After I give my familiar some food I will come," Louise replied.

"Fine, Miss de La Vallière."

* * *

After this we followed our usual morning ritual. We had breakfast and presented ourselves at the Headmaster's office, along with Kirche, Lily and Tabitha. All of the teachers were already inside, along with Miss Longueville.

"Ah, perfect timing," Old Osmond said as we entered the room. "We were about to begin." He sat behind his desk and cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "As you all know, the thief known as Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt infiltrated our academy yesterday and stole the Staff of Destruction. I have also been told by the Palace that we will receive no help in this matter." Many gasps filled the room, Louise's included.

"I assume that Her Highness is taking responsibility for the crime?" Saito said, and another burst of gasps filled the room.

"Why should the Princess take responsibility for something like this?" Louise asked what many wanted to know.

"Think about this, Louise…the Guard from the Vault was pulled to take care of the Princess, so the vault was left unprotected," Saito said.

"And the Princess will need to take responsibility because there was not enough guards to protect the vault," Lily added.

"Yes, that is correct, Mr. Saito and Miss Lily," Old Osmond said.

"So, do we know anything about Fouquet, or are we just running in circles for nothing?" Saito asked.

"Yes, I have discovered the whereabouts of Fouquet," Miss Longueville claimed after a bit of silence.

"What!" Mr. Colbert spoke with amazement. "Where did you get this information, Miss Longueville?"

"I asked around a little on the way back from the city this morning. It appears some people have seen a suspicious woman wearing a purple cloak going to an abandoned house deep in the forest."

"I believe it's worth investigating," Colbert said.

Old Osmond also got excited and asked Miss Longueville, "How far is it from here?"

"By foot it takes half a day, but by horse it should only take about four hours."

"We must report this to the Imperial Court right away! We must seek reinforcements from the Imperial Army!" Mr. Colbert spoke yet again.

Old Osmond shook his head at Colbert and shouted with a surprising vigor for such an old man, "You fool! By the time we report this to the Imperial Court, Fouquet will get away Scott free! Besides, if we can't handle such a small problem on our own, we're not fit call ourselves nobles! Since the staff was stolen from the Academy, then it's the Academy's responsibility to get it back!"

Old Osmond coughed for a while before recruiting some volunteers. "Now, we're going to organize a search team to find Fouquet. Those willing to join, please raise your wands."

Terrified expressions filled the room as almost all of the teachers backed away in fear. _'Damn cowards!'_ Saito thought angrily.

**[DRAGON BOOSTER]**

Was heard in the room and on Saito's left hand a crimson, metal gauntlet appeared. "I will go, because this Fouquet has made a fool out of me. That will not happen a second time!" As Saito finished explaining, both Louise and Kirche raised their wands.

"It wouldn't do to have my Familiar go alone. I will accompany you," the pinknette proclaimed haughtily while glaring at the fire mage.

"Likewise, if my Darling goes to battle, I shall follow." The redhead responded with a glare of her own at Louise. They both stopped, looking surprised when Tabitha raised her wand as well. "Tabitha, you don't have to…."

"Worried about you two…and him," The bluenette replied, while pointing at Saito, wearing a blank expression.

"I'm going as well," Lily said before raising her wand.

"I see." Old Osmond ran a hand through his beard. "Miss Tabitha is a Chevalier, despite her young age." He continued on, even though many surprised looks filled the room, "Additionally, Miss Zerbst comes from a military family famous throughout Germania and I hear her flames are quite strong. The same can be said of Miss Lily and her wind magic." He coughed a bit, probably trying to come up with something exemplary for Louise. "And then there's Miss de La Vallière, who…belongs to a family that has produced many excellent mages…and…what more can I say?" Wow, he was sweating so much he looked like a waterfall. "Oh, right. She has summoned a most excellent familiar capable of overpowering a Golem with just a single magic shot." Then Headmaster Osmond continued in a more solemn tone, "If anyone thinks that they're more capable than these four, please step forward."

No one stepped forward.

"I'll leave this matter in your hands then." Just as the Headmaster finished speaking, Miss Longueville took a step forward.

"I'd like to act as their guide," she offered with a smile. "I know the area well."

"When are we leaving?" Lily asked.

"As soon as you are ready," the green-haired secretary replied.

We made small talk as we traveled through the forest in a carriage borrowed from the Academy. I was surprised to learn Miss Longueville was only twenty-three years old. No offense, but she looked older. I also had to stop Louise and Kirche from killing each other a couple times.

As the house came into view the conversation died. We walked silently until we were within a few steps of the building. Miss Longueville pointed to the house and said, "From the information I've gathered, that should be the place."

"It looks like no one is inside. Is Fouquet really hiding out in there?"

"I'll go take a look," I suggested and everyone nodded. "It's clear," I told them a few minutes later. "All that's left is to check for any magical traps."

"No traps," Tabitha said as she finished her spell; she had already started it before I began talking. I smiled at her in gratitude.

"Then let's look inside." Lily was eager to get the job done.

"I'll guard the rear," Louise offered before we all entered the building.

"I'll scout the area." After we all nodded, Longueville walked further into the forest. I shot Louise a meaningful look before going inside the cabin, and she nodded back at me.

After a few minutes, all we had left to examine was a plain black chest. Tabitha unlocked it with a spell, and brought out a long purple box from within. We opened it to find two rings bound together with a chain.

My eyes widened in surprise at what it actually was. _'What the hell is a Longinus doing here—and without a user?!'_

"This is the Staff of Destruction?" Lily asked.

"Yes, I saw it one day in the vault," Kirche replied.

"This is a Longinus, not a staff," Saito said. Kirche eyes widened in surprise, and Tabitha nearly dropped her book.

"But how?" Kirche asked.

"I don't know, but let's get out of here," Saito said.

"What is a Longinus?" asked Lily.

"Now is not the time-" I was cut off by Louise's scream before I could explain properly, or before we could turn our heads in the direction of the scream. The roof disappeared, revealing the ugly visage of an Earth Golem that was slightly different than the one from yesterday. "Oh, to hell with it!"

I ran out of the cottage with the box in hand, only to find Louise flinging her explosions at the massive creature…and they did little to no damage against it.

"What took you so long?!" She shouted as she launched another failed spell, making a small hole in the Golem's back, causing it to turn slowly towards her.

"Louise, get out of here, you're no match for that!" I yelled, but she ignored me.

"I am a noble! If I retreat, it will bring shame to my family!" Oh, please, not that again! Why does she have to get so stubborn at the worst times? As I think about Louise's pride, I watch in horror as the Golem nearly crushed Louise.

"FUCK IT!"

**[Incinerate Anthem]**

A blue ball of energy struck the golem and reduced it to nothing but particles of light.

"What was that?" Lily asked, surprised.

"This is the power of the Staff of Destruction," Saito responded. "Are you alright, Louise?" he asked with concern.

"Yes, thank you for saving me…again." Louise said, a bit depressed.

"What happened?" The green-haired secretary asked as she tried to regain her breath. "I heard an explosion while I was coming back."

"Fouquet sent another Golem against us," Kirche explained gladly as she hurried to hug me. "But Darling took it down in a display of awesomeness."

"The Staff of Destruction did most of the work," I said, looking down to the red glove on my hand while standing in Kirche's embrace.

"Oh, yeah. What were you about to say when the Golem attacked?" Lily asked, recalling the events before the fight.

"I'm going to explain where we went to the Headmaster, but first," I said, looking squarely at Miss Longueville before I continued, "Surrender now, Fouquet, or I will kill you."

Miss Longueville looked shocked and took a few steps back as she drew her wand. "How did you know?" Fouquet asked me.

"I knew from the moment I entered Headmaster Osmond's office today. I have a very high sense about people, it doesn't matter if they are masked or not," I explained. "Now surrender or I will kill you."

"You wouldn't dare," Fouquet answered, "you're just a child…you don't have the stomach to do anything."

"Fool!" Saito exclaimed as a golden ball of fire formed in Saito's left hand. It shot at Fouquet, who screamed in agony then passed out from the pain.

"You killed her?" asked Lily, afraid of Saito's threats.

"No, I just put her to sleep," Saito said.

"Now, let's go. We need to have a long talk with the Headmaster."

*****Break*****

Inside the Headmaster's office, Old Osmond listened to the group's account of what happened.

"Hmm…. So Miss Longueville is Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt. Because she's such a beauty, I did not think twice about hiring her as my secretary."

"How did you go about hiring her?" Mr. Colbert asked.

"In a tavern. I was a customer while she was a waitress there. I slowly caressed her from her hands down to her buttocks…."

"Then what happened?" Mr. Colbert asked again.

Headmaster Osmond embarrassingly confessed, "Because she wasn't angry at all after what I did, I asked her whether she wanted to become my secretary or not."

"Why?" The bewildered Mr. Colbert continued asking.

"Anyways!" Headmaster Osmond cried out, using vigor to stem Colbert's questions. Osmond started coughing, and said sedately, "She could use magic, too."

"Yeah, magic that could kill," Mr. Colbert mumbled to himself.

Headmaster Osmond coughed again then told Mr. Colbert in a prudent manner, "Come to think of it, while I was in the tavern, the only reason that Fouquet allowed me to touch her all over the place, served me wine happily, and stated that I was a handsome man was just to infiltrate the academy. All those compliments were probably just lies…."

"Yes. Beautiful women can be deadly mages."

"I couldn't agree more with you, Colbert."

Old Osmond, being embarrassed, cleared his throat and regained his solemn composure. "It's been a job well done for all of you. You have returned the Staff of Destruction and captured Fouquet. But I see Miss De La Vallière familiar has the Staff of Destruction on his finger. Mind explaining what happened?"

"I want to hold on to the Staff of Destruction until a new master is found for it. Now that it has awakened, if it is sealed in the vault, it could 'go bersek,' and the chance it will extinguish all the magic of the teachers and students is high," Saito said, deeply concerned over the uncontrolled power of the weapon.

"What do you mean?" Osmond asked, surprised.

"How much do you know about the Staff of Destruction?" Saito asked.

"Not much, just that it can destroy an earth dragon with a single strike," Osmond offered.

"Hmm…let me tell you what the staff really is," Saito began, as all the people present turned their attention to him. "Well, maybe I'll start with its name," Saito said.

"Name?" Colbert asked.

"The true name of this 'staff' is Incinerate Anthem. Where I come from, this weapon is one of the 13 Longinus."

"Longinus? You said that name during our trip…what does it mean?" Lily asked.

"Longinus is a weapon that, if completely mastered, can kill a god-or so it is said. But even if that is not true, the power of these 13 weapons is like nothing else."

"And how did you know this?" Colbert asked.

**[Boosted Gears]**

"This is one of the 13 Longinus-Boosted Gears. It's a middle-tier Longinus, and I am its master," Saito said.

"Incredible! So what can Incinerate Anthem do?" Colbert asked.

"It can 'incinerate' magic," Saito answered.

"WHAT!" they all shouted in deep surprise.

"Like I said, Incinerate Anthem can burn magic. Anything of a magic nature that it encounters will become just particles of light, due to Incinerate Anthem's power. If you want, you can say this Longinus is an absolute defense against anything that has magic."

"But this is impossible!" Osmond exclaimed.

"Then why don't we try a test?" Saito countered.

"What?" Lily asked, surprised.

"All of you strike me with a spell," Saito instructed.

"Are you sure?" Louise asked Saito, concerned about the results of his experiment.

"Yes."

"Fine," Louise said, and all the magicians in the room drew their wands and pointed at Saito.

"Fire Ball!" Kirche said.

"Ice Storm," Tabitha commanded.

"Razor Storm!" Lily canted.

"Earth Spear!" Osmond called.

"Fire Snake," Colbert said.

"EXPLOSION!" Louise shouted.

All the attacks rushed towards Saito, and the combined power of these attacks could kill any normal person, but….

**[Incinerate Anthem]**

**[EXTINGUISH]**

As the attacks made contact with Saito's body, all six spells were reduced to a large area filled with particles of light.

"You see now? It doesn't matter how many magic attacks are directed at me, if I have this Sacred Gears I am immune to magic," Saito explained.

"Incredible, I can't believe something like this exists," Colbert said.

"Well, yes…but now I want to ask, why do you want to keep it?" Osmond questioned Saito.

"Haven't I already explained? This Sacred Gears has been awakened, and it needs a master. Since I already have a Longinus, I can't be its master, but I can use it just because my Boosted Gears is considered a lost Longinus."

"So you are going to keep it till a master is selected to hold this Sacred Gears?"

"Yes, if I don't hold it till a new host is selected, Burst Mode is going to be activated."

"What is Burst Mode?" Colbert asked.

"All Longinus have a special mode that can be used, but it will take away from the user's lifespan."

"How barbaric, but I still don't get it," Colbert grumbled.

"But what I can't explain is why Incinerate Anthem didn't move to a new host after the death of the one who possessed it."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"If the host dies, their Longinus normally moves almost immediately to a new host, but it looks like this one didn't move and didn't even disappear, it just sealed itself."

"So what is Burst Mode?"

"It is Incinerate Anthem's special mode. If it is activated, all magic—whether from enchantments, seals, houses made with magic, or magic from people's bodies-will be annihilated. I don't know how far the effect will spread, but I am guessing that half of Halkeginia will end up without magic."

"That would be a disaster, but if the Gears fall into the hands of a commoner who abuses that power, the danger to activate Burst Mode still exists," Lily commented.

"No it does not; you see, Burst Mode has two effects. What I said is about the outcome if we don't find its new host. If a host is found, or if it remains with me, then Burst Mode Exodus can't be activated."

"Well, if that is the risk, then I give you permission to hold Incinerate Anthem, but I need to have an excuse to offer if the Palace asks why I let something like this remain in the hands of a familiar," Osmond said.

"Just say the weapon selected me as its wielder. It is not like the Royal Family or anyone else knows the truth about Incinerate Anthem," Saito advised.

"And don't tell anyone about what I have said. I don't know if other Longinus are in Halkeginia, but if there are more, we really don't need for them to fall into the hands of some fool who wants to start a war."

"Yes, you are right. I feel bad about holding a secret like this from the Royal Family, but this can't be avoided," Osmond admitted.

"I still have a question…." Mr. Colbert said.

"What?" Saito asked.

"Are you going to choose who will be the host of Incinerate Anthem?" Colbert inquired.

"Normally, the new host is selected at random; but I will hold it for now. I know a magic spell that will let me transfer a Sacred Gears to another person, so I can choose who will be the new host," Saito supplied.

"Well, at least that is a good thing; it means that it can't fall into the hands of someone bad," Colbert concluded.

"Yes," Saito said.

Headmaster Osmond gently clapped his hands together and said, "I almost forgot…tonight's Ball of Frigg will continue as planned, since we have retrieved the Staff of Destruction."

Kirche's face brightened up. "That's right! Let's forget about Longinus and dance all night long!"

"The main attraction of the ball will be you three. So go get ready and dress up!" The four bowed, and left through the door.

*****Alviss Dining Hall*****

Above Alvíss Dining Hall, there is a large ballroom where the dance was being held. Saito leaned on the railing of the balcony and looked at the grand reception area. He felt like a fool dressed up as he was. The students and teachers who were dressed grandly gathered around tables filled with exquisite food and chatted amongst themselves. Saito arrived via a flight of stairs leading up to the balcony. Watching the other guests, he felt that she would not fit in at all; therefore, he decided not to enter. Next to Saito were some food and a bottle of wine that Siesta had brought for him earlier. He poured himself a glass of wine and drank it.

"This is a party, partner. Aren't ya gonna join in?" asked Derflinger, which was leaning on the balcony.

Just before the ball started, Kirche, who was beautifully dressed in an evening gown, accompanied Louise to the entrance hall. But when the ball started, Louise was nowhere to be seen.

In the middle of the dance floor, Kirche was surrounded by a group of young males, talking and laughing.

Tabitha, dressed in a black gown, feasted away on the sumptuous food from the tables. It was one of the few times Saito saw her without a book. He had to admit, he liked her. No nonsense, with a good head on her shoulders. But something seemed off. Searching for his 'Master,' he decided he'd figure it out later.

'Looks like everyone is enjoying the dance to the fullest,' Saito thought. Well, they earned it, I suppose. They volunteered for a potentially dangerous mission when the 'responsible' adults had shown their true colors. His attention was drawn to a sudden commotion.

The doors to the great hall opened and Louise appeared. The guards at the door notified the other guests of her arrival. "The daughter of Duke de La Vallière, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière has arrived!"

Saito held his breath. Louise was dressed in a white evening gown with her long, strawberry hair tied up into a pony tail. Her hands were covered by pure white gloves. Her petite face, along with her low cut evening gown, made her sparkle like a gem.

After confirming that the guests of honor had arrived, the musicians started playing music that was extremely soothing to the ears. All around Louise were males captivated by her beauty, eagerly asking for a dance with her. Before this, no one ever realized Louise's beauty, only thinking of her as "Louise the Zero." Now, those same snobby males were trying to win her heart.

The nobles started dancing gracefully on the dance floor. Louise turned down everyone's invitation for a dance, Saito observed from his place on the balcony. Slowly, he moved to Louise and placed his arm around her waist. "Looks like you're not even trying to enjoy yourself," she said.

"Not really…Just thinking about my past," Saito moved his gaze away from the dazzling Louise. "Aren't you going to dance?" Saito asked while avoiding Louise's gaze.

"I have no dance partner." Louise replied.

"You've had a good number of offers, it seemed," Saito noted.

"Saito, do you really think I might be something special?" Louise asked after a short pause. There was a note of desperation in her voice that Saito caught immediately.

"I wouldn't have said so if I didn't think so." He looked back over to the balcony. The two moons were still surreal to him.

"Saito…." She said hesitantly.

"What?" He asked, looking at her.

Louise did not answer, she just extended her hand.

"Huh?"

"Even though you're just a familiar, I will make an exception," the blushing Louise said while avoiding Saito's gaze.

"Don't you mean, 'Could I have this dance?'?" Saito asked while trying to avoid Louise's gaze.

After a moment of silence, Louise sighed. "Only for today!" She said. Louise then held up the ends of her dress and made a curtsy. "May I have a dance, sir?"

These actions made the bashful Louise look even more cute and alluring than ever before.

Saito gave her a stately bow, the first she'd ever seen him give, and together, they walked towards the dance floor.

Louise was still blushing and did not dare to look at Saito. "Thank you," she abruptly uttered.

Saito looked at her, puzzled, "For what?"

"Nobody has ever believed in me before. Not really." Louise replied. "I mean, you're strong, and you've got some very unique skills. All in all, you're an amazing, if willful, familiar. And you are the only person to believe in me. To have someone finally believe in me, even if it is just my familiar..." Louise couldn't finish her sentence.

"You're welcome. But that's what I'm supposed to do," he responded, rather indifferently.

"Why?"

"Because I am your familiar, am I not?" Saito asked simply, with a confident smirk on his face.

Louise smiled.

The twin moons in the sky shone onto the dance floor, and along with the candlelight, created a romantic atmosphere for the couples swaying to the music.

* * *

**Review if you like.**

**Saito will have Incinerate Anthem only this season and a bit of season 2 so, who do you think should get Incinerate Anthem?**

**I try to made chapter 7 a week or two.**


	7. A Princess Request

It had been only a day since the incident with Fouquet, but all the students were talking about Saito and Louise, for various reasons, of course.

Saito looked around the class and sighed. Everyone was staring or saying stupid things about him this morning. Was it really that much more of a shock that he'd beaten a triangle mage compared to a dot mage? He was pulled out of his thoughts by the voice of one of the students behind him.

"Can you believe it? Such a zero of a mage was able to summon a familiar that is so powerful? It must be the founder's way of compensating for her being so useless." The derisive comment caused chuckles to break out from a few people.

Saito looked to Louise, who seemed to be nearly crying, and sighed. Turning to look at the student again, he said with an air of seeming indifference, "Kid, you better shut up, or you might become a zero yourself. And I don't need to hear about failure from a fool that summoned a cat. At least I can do something if my master is in danger, compared to your familiar. What does that say about YOU as a mage?" After a mocking laugh, Saito watched for the young mage's reaction.

"How dare you?" The young man in question stood up, trembling in outrage. "Say that again!"

"Sit back down kid. You know you're just pretending now…unless you'd like to become a living torch?" Saito said darkly, his eyes narrowing.

* * *

*****After Class*****

"Hey, Louise, I have something to do. Mind going to you next class without me?" Saito asked.

"Fine. But come back before midnight."

"Ok," Saito before disappearing down a hallway.

* * *

*****Courtyard*****

_"Hey, Sasha, are you there?" _Saito spoke in his mind.

**(Yes I'm here. What do you want from me?) **

_"I want to try something, and I need your help."_

**(What?)**

_"I want to combine Ascalon with Derflinger," _Saito explained.

_(Derflinger? You have Derflinger?)_

"You know Derflinger?" Saito voiced his surprise.

**(Do I know him? Hahaha, I created him nearly six thousand years ago. Derflinger is the first weapon I made, and he is still more powerful than all those I made after him.)**

_"Wow that is something. So I think I hold a sword that is legendary in his own right."_

**(Yes, so why do you want to combine Ascalon and Derflinger?)**

_"I can't use two swords at the same time, even with Gandálfr. So I want to make a new weapon from Derflinger and Ascalon,"_ Saito explained.

**(And what will happen with Derflinger, if you do it?)**

_"Nothing. It will just give him a new and more powerful 'body,' and some new abilities,"_ Saito said.

**(Ok. If nothing bad will happen to Derflinger, then I will help you. But you better ask him about it first, though.)**

"Hey, Derf, wake up!" Saito spoke after he took Derf in his right hand.

"Yes, partner, what do you need?" Derf asked.

"Would you like to have a new body?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Derflinger, concerned and a little confused.

"You see, I have another sword with me, and I would like to combine you with her."

"And what would happen to me?" Derf asked warily.

"Nothing. Your form will be changed; you won't rust; you can store more magic in you and there are some other things. But the most important thing is…you will become a 'Dragon Slayer Holy Sword' Saito explained excitedly.

"Really? Then let's go and do it!" Derf replied eagerly.

_"I think Derf agrees with this,"_ Saito said to Sasha.

**(Ok, let's get started.)**

**[Boosted Gears]**

**[SWORD]**

In Saito's left hand a sword appeared. It is, for lack of a better word, beautiful. The sword has the appearance of a European sword with a reddish-purple grip and a golden hilt bearing stylized crosses along the edges of the hilt.

"Hey, partner…who is this beauty?" Derf asked, mesmerized by the look of the sword in Saito's left hand.

"This, Derf, is Ascalon, the Dragon Slayer sword," Saito replied back.

"And you're going to combine me with this sword?" Derf asked.

"Yes."

"Ok, let's do it!" Derf shouted.

_"Ready Sasha?"_

**(Ready)**

"Let's start."

A red magic circle appeared above Saito's head, and Saito released the two swords. They both started to float up to the sky, becoming two pillars of light-a white one and a red one-that fused into a single one of golden color that was heading quickly towards earth. After the impact, a completely new and different sword stood in front of Saito. The sword, now having the appearance of a European sword with a silver blade, which was slightly longer compared with Derflinger's original size, possessed a black grip, with a Red Chinese Dragon forming part of the hilt on one side and a White Chinese Dragon on the other side.

Saito approached it to take the sword and do some moves with it to see how is felt in his hand. "Hey, Derf, how are you?" Saito asked.

"This is really good, partner. I don't think I ever felt so powerful, I think I can take on an army all by myself now," Derf replied, with his voice coming from the Red and White Dragon ornament of the sword.

**(A good work, if I do say so myself.) **

"I'm happy you like it, Derf, now I think we need to go meet up with Louise. I think she is angry I haven't come back yet," Saito said.

"What do you mean, partner, she said to come before midnight, and now is not close to midnight at all," Derf replied.

"That's where you're wrong. We are in a different dimension now; you don't really think a ritual like this will not be sensed by a wizard, do you?" Saito spoke and the magic circle about his head disappeared. Now it was possible to see that it was actually night already.

"I'm too sleepy to be surprised, so let's talk tomorrow," Derf said, so Saito put him back in his sheath and began walking to Louise's room. After a while, Saito paused in front of Louise's room then quietly entered. Upon his entrance he saw Louise still awake, waiting for him.

"What took you so long, what have you done all day?" Louise nearly shouted at him.

"I just made some 'changes' to my sword," Saito replied with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Louise asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"See for yourself," Saito said and pulled Derflinger from his sheath. To say Louise was not impressed would be an understatement.

"THIS is Derflinger…the same noisy, rusty and unimpressive sword?" Louise asked distrustfully.

"Hey, Midget, who do you think I am? I am the Mighty Lord Derflinger the Dragon Slayer, show some respect," Derflinger shouted indignantly.

"What does he mean by that?" Louise asked.

"Long story short, I combined Derflinger with one of the legendary Dragon Slayer Holy Swords from my world."

"How did you do it…wait, I've decided I don't even want to know," Louse said and Saito leaned Derflinger against the wall.

"It was a long day, we better sleep now and speak tomo-" before Saito could finish, the window burst open, revealing a hooded figure floating right in front of it. The figure in question wasted no time in entering the room and closing the window. Slowly it pulled down the hood.

"Am I interrupting something?" Asked the gentle voice of Henrietta de Tristain as her lavender hair came into view. She eyed the pair mischievously, waiting for an answer with a smile.

"Not at all, Your Highness," Louise managed to get out as she kneeled. "To what do I owe the honor of your visit?"

"I just wanted to talk with you, Louise," Henrietta spoke in a voice filled with sadness.

"I am deeply moved that our Princess would remember someone like me... I thought you'd forgotten about me long ago."

"How could I forget my childhood friend? During those times, every day was fun. There was nothing at all to worry about." There was a profound sadness in her voice as she spoke of her memories.

"Princess?" Louise looked worried as she peered into Henrietta's face.

"How I envy you. Freedom is such a wonderful thing, Louise Françoise."

"What are you saying? You're the royal princess, are you not?" Louise said and to her and the Princess' surprise, Saito spoke.

"Here, you are wrong, Louise. For a Princess, freedom is nothing more than a dream. A Princess of a kingdom is like a bird being raised in a cage," Saito said, looking lonely as he gazed at the moons outside the window.

Henrietta's features darkened, and she was nearly crying as she held Louise's hands; but she gave a sweet smile before speaking. "I...I'm getting married."

"...You have my congratulations," Louise said without understanding.

"Is there something you're not telling us, Princess?" Saito asked, observing how Henrietta tried to avoid looking away.

"No, it's nothing. Forgive me, oh, I'm so ashamed of myself. It's not something I should tell you…but I am just so..." Henrietta started to cry as she spoke.

"Princess, tell us! I don't like to see a beautiful girl like yourself crying-you look so much better when you smile," Saito said with a smile that made the Princess blush a bit and nod in response.

She began speaking with a sad tone, "I am to marry the Emperor of Germania..."

"Germania, you say?!" Louise, who hated Germania, spoke out in astonishment. "That country of barbaric upstarts?!"

"Yes. But it can't be helped. It must be done to solidify our alliance." Henrietta reluctantly explained the political climate of Halkeginia to Louise. "There was an insurrection among the nobles of Albion, and it looks like the Royal Family will soon be overthrown. If the rebels win, then the next action would be the invasion of Tristain. To defend against this, Tristain is looking to form an alliance with Germania. For the alliance's sake, it has been decided that I will be married into the Germanian Imperial Family..."

"So that's why..." Louise said with a depressed voice. It was clear from Henrietta's tone that she did not desire this wedding.

"So, from what I understand, you have to marry an Emperor, forming an alliance to repel an attack from Albion. I'll be taking a wild guess here…but is it possible that an Albion noble found a way to interfere with the marriage?" Saito questioned. Louise looked at him in surprise.

Both of them heard a thud and turned around to see Henrietta covering her face with her hands, crumpled on the floor, as she managed to respond while crying, "Yes, they've found something..."

"Tell me, please, Princess! Just what is it that could interfere with the Princess' wedding?" Louise rattled off with an agitated look.

With both hands still over her face, Henrietta looked like she was in pain as she began muttering, "...It is a letter that I had written some time ago."

"A letter?"

"Yes. If those Albion nobles get their hands on it…they would probably send it forward to the Germanian Imperial Family as soon as they could."

"What kind of letter could that be?"

_'A love letter,' _Saito thinks shrewdly.

"...That I cannot tell you. But if the Germanian Imperial Family were to read it...they would never forgive me. The marriage would fall through, and with it, the alliance with Tristain. Then Tristain would stand alone against the strength of Albion."

Louise gave a gasp and seized Henrietta's hands.

"Where would that letter be? The letter that would bring crisis to Tristain!"

Henrietta shook her head.

"It is not with us. The truth of the matter is...it is already in Albion."

"Albion! But then-! Is it already in the enemy's hands?"

"No...the one who holds the letter is not with the rebels of Albion. As the conflict between the rebels and his kinsmen unfolded, Prince Wales of the Royal Family-"

"The Prince Wales? The Prince Valiant?"

Henrietta bent back and lay down on the bed.

"Oh, it's such a disaster! Sooner or later, Prince Wales will fall captive to the rebels! And when that happens, the letter will come to light! And everything will be ruined! Ruined! Without an alliance, Tristain will have to take on Albion all by itself!"

_'Not if I have a say in that!' _

**(Why do you care about this girl?)** Sasha asked.

"_She just reminds me too much of someone I once knew,"_ Saito replied.

"Then, Princess, the favor that you're asking of me…."

"Impossible! It's impossible, Louise! How could I be so terrible? It's all so confusing! When I think about it, I couldn't ask you to do such a dangerous thing as go to Albion while this conflict between the nobles and the royalists is unfolding!"

"It is not like Louise will go alone. I will come along too, so don't worry." Saito assured Princess Henrietta.

"So you will help me? Louise Françoise! You are such a dear friend!"

"Of course, Princess!"

"Then shall we go to Albion, find the Crown Prince of Wales, and get the letter back, Princess?" Saito asked.

"Yes, that is correct. I feel confident that you, the ones who caught Fouquet the Crumbling Earth, should be able to accomplish this difficult mission."

"How urgent is this task?" Saito asked.

"I've heard that the nobles of Albion have managed to drive the royalists into a corner of the country. It will just be a matter of time before they are defeated."

Saito's face looked serious as he eyed Henrietta. "Then tomorrow, we shall depart," Saito spoke.

"Yes," Louise offered in agreement with what Saito proposed.

Before they could continue, Saito suddenly stopped talking, and stood up. He walked over and picked up Derf and threw him at the door. When the sword pierced it, a surprised gasp was heard. Saito then walked to the door, and opened it; he dragged the eavesdropping intruder by the collar and threw him to the ground in front of Louise and Henrietta.

"Hello, Guiche, how nice of you to drop by," Saito greeted with the all too familiar joke as the blond got up to his feet.

Louise's face reddened in anger. "I did not know the de Gramont family prided itself in its eavesdropping abilities. How the mighty have fallen."

"I overheard by accident!" Guiche said as he rubbed his face, fearful of Louise explosive temper and magic. "I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened but, when I heard what was going on, I…."

"You decided to listen in," Saito concluded for him with a sigh.

"Your Highness," He kneeled in front of Henrietta. "I deeply apologize for spying on you; it is not in the conduct of a noble to do such things." Henrietta nodded at his words, being brought back to the real world by them. "I would like to ask you to let me, Guiche de Gramont, help you in this endeavor in compensation for my wrongs."

"Gramont? Ah, of General Gramont?" Henrietta fixed her eyes on Guiche's vacantly looking face.

"I am his son, Your Highness." Guiche stood up and gave a reverent bow.

"Are you also saying that you wish to help me?"

"It would be an unexpected blessing for me if I were to become a part of this mission."

Henrietta smiled at Guiche's enthusiastic expression. "Thank you. Your father is a great, brave noble, and it seems you have inherited his blood. Then, please, would you help this unfortunate princess, Sir Guiche?"

"Her Highness has called my name! Her Highness! Tristain's lovely flower, has smiled her rosy smile at me!" Guiche, having felt too much excitement, fell on his back in a dead faint.

"Is he alright?" Saito asked.

Louise paid no mind to the disturbance and spoke in a serious voice. "Well then, tomorrow morning, we shall depart for Albion."

"We have heard that Prince Wales has set up camp somewhere around Newcastle in Albion."

"Understood. I've travelled through Albion with my sisters before, so I'm familiar with the geography."

"It will be a perilous journey. If the nobles of Albion discover your mission, they will do everything in their power to get in your way."

Henrietta sat at the desk and, with Louise's feather quill and some parchment, wrote a letter out. Henrietta quietly gazed at the letter she had written, before she began shaking her head sadly.

"Princess? What's the matter?" Louise, thinking something was up, called out.

"I-it's nothing."

Henrietta blushed, gave a nod as if she had settled on something, and then added another line at the end of her letter. After that, she murmured in a soft voice. "Founder Brimir...Please forgive this selfish princess. Even though my country is in distress, I cannot help but write this one sentence. I cannot lie about my own feelings..."

Saito approached the desk from behind and whispered so only Princess Henrietta could hear, "Love really is a mysterious thing, don't you think so Princess?" Henrietta turned around with such speed that her neck nearly broke.

"How did you know?" Henrietta asked in a whisper.

"It's a bit too obvious if you ask me. It is written all over your face…but don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Saito said.

"Thank you…." Henrietta whispered in a low voice.

"What are you two talking about?" Louise, who returned from shaking Guiche awake, asked.

"Nothing, don't worry, Louise," Saito said.

"If you say so."

Henrietta rolled up the letter she had written. She waved her staff. Out of nowhere, sealing wax appeared on the rolled-up letter, and a seal pressed down on it. Then she handed the letter over to Louise.

"When you meet the Crown Prince Wales, please pass this letter to him. He should then return the letter in question immediately." After that, Henrietta removed a ring from the ring finger on her right hand, and gave it to Louise. "This is a 'Water Ruby' that I received from my mother. It should work as a good-luck charm, at least. If you have any money concerns, please sell this to get some travel funds."

Louise bowed her head in silence.

"This mission is for the future of Tristain. For that, my mother's ring will protect you from the harsh winds blowing in Albion."

* * *

**Chapter 7 finished, review if you like**

**Sorry if is a bit to much like in cannon**

**Chapter 8 will be finished in a week or two.**


	8. Port City - La Rochelle

Although dawn had just broken, Saito, Guiche and Louise had already started preparing the saddles for their horses. Slung over Saito's back was Derflinger. Because of its length, it could not be attached to the waist.

Louise was dressed in her academy uniform, the only difference was that she now wore horse riding boots instead of shoes. Judging from that, it looked like a great deal of time would be spent riding the horse.

Just before setting off, Guiche spoke rather awkwardly. "I have a request..."

"What is it that you want?" Saito wondered, sounding annoyed. To him, the jury was still out on weather or not he liked the kid or not.

"I wish to bring my familiar along."

"Do you have a familiar in the first place?"

"Of course I do. All magicians have one."

Louise and Saito looked at each other, then looked at Guiche again.

"Where's your familiar now?"

"Here." Guiche replied while pointing to the ground.

"But there's nothing on the ground," Louise said.

Guiche responded by tapping his feet on the ground. Just then, a giant brown creature popped out of the ground.

"Verdandi! Oh, my cute Verdandi!"

Saito, dumbfounded, asked, "What in the world is that creature?"

"What do you mean creature? This is my cute little familiar Verdandi."

"You mean that your familiar is that big thing over there?"

Upon closer inspection, that giant brown creature was actually a mole with a size equivalent to a small bear.

"Yes. Ahh... My Verdandi, you look so cute from any angle I look. Have you eaten your meal of earthworms before you arrived here?"

The gigantic mole hemmed happily in response.

"Really? That's wonderful!" Guiche said while rubbing cheek to cheek with his familiar.

"Actually... I don't think that you could bring it along with us..." Saito said in disgust.

"That's right Guiche. That creature moves underground right?"

"That's right. Even though it's slightly bigger that usual, Verdandi is still a mole all right."

"How are we going to bring it along? We're all riding on horses." Louise said in perturbed fashion.

"That's all right. Verdandi moves along quickly underground. Am I right, Verdandi?

The gigantic mole nodded in agreement.

"But we're going to Albion! We can't bring creatures that move underground!." Louise explained.

Guiche, upon hearing that, knelt onto the ground and replied, "I cannot bear the separation with my dear Verdandi... Oh! The pain..."

At the same time, the giant mole seemed to pick up some scent from its nose and drew nearer and nearer to Louise.

"What is this stupid mole trying to do!?"

"Like master, like familiar. They both share the same interest – girls." Saito said, stifling a laugh.

"Stop! Stop this right now!" Louise said, her arms flailing comically.

The giant mole knocked Louise off her feet and started sniffing all over her.

"Ah! Watch where you're sniffing! Stop it!"

Louise being constantly poked by the giant mole's nose, started to roll all over the ground. All that rolling disheveled her clothes and exposed her underwear. Louise was starting to get very annoyed...

"Ah... How beautiful is the scene of a giant mole teasing a damsel."

"Might wanna call your familiar off. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to be blown up later." Saito said, seriously.

Both Saito and Guiche nodded in unison.

"Stop blabbering nonsense over there, you oafs! Come over and help me quickly! Ahh!"

The giant mole saw the ring at Louise's right hand and started pecking it with its nose.

"You insolent mole! Don't use your nose to sniff at the ring the highness has bestowed to me!."

"I see now. It's the ring. Verdandi loves jewels."

"Such an irritating pest!"

"Please don't call Verdandi an irritating pest. It's because of me that Verdandi searches for precious stones and jewels. For an Earth magician, there's nothing more helpful than this."

Just as Louise was preparing to blow her top, a sudden gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew away Verdandi.

"Who is that!" Guiche shouted agitatedly.

A rather stout looking noble wearing a feathered cap appeared out of the faint daylight behind him.

"What have you done to my Verdandi!" Guiche hastily took out his rose shaped wand but the noble wearing the feathered cap was faster. Before Guiche could cast any spell, his wand was already out of his hand.

"I'm not your enemy. I'm under the orders of the highness to accompany you on your journey. The princess is worried about just having you few going to Albion, but then again sending a whole troop of soldiers with you will be too conspicuous. Therefore, I was appointed to accompany you all on this journey." The noble said while taking off his feather cap and bowing.

"I'm the captain of the Griffin Knights, Viscount Wardes."

The grumbling Guiche quickly shut his mouth. For most of the nobles, Guiche included, being able to join the Griffin Knights meant great prestige.

Wardes looked at Guiche and spoke apologetically. "Sorry for what I did to your familiar. I couldn't stand watching my fiance being harassed."

"What!"

Saito was shocked. "Fiance?"

"This majestic looking noble is Louise' fiance?"

"Lord Wardes..." Louise spoke in a trembling voice after standing up.

"It's been such a long time. My Louise, my dear Louise."

'_My Louise? What kind of joke is that?_ _He looked old enough to be her father.'_ Saito thought to himself.

Wardes approached Louise and with a beaming smile on his face, carried Louise up.

"It's really been such a long time." Louise said with her face turning red with embarrassment.

"Still as light as ever. Just like a feather."

"Viscount... please don't be like this... There are people over here..."

Wardes, who placed Louise back down and replaced his hat said, "Care to introduce your companions to me?"

"Erm... That is Guiche de Gramont and my familiar, Saito." said Louise while pointing at them while she was introducing them to Wardes. Guiche who did not dare look at Wardes directly, lowered his head. Saito just looked at him.

Wardes said with a rather surprised look on his face, "Are you Louise' familiar? This is the first time I've seen a human being a familiar."

"Yeah, stay around me you'll see lots of things you've never seen before" Saito said, meeting his gaze.

"Thank you for taking such good care of my fiance."

"Didn't do it for you." Saito said,"I did it because nobody else gave a damn enough about her to help her. If you did, you might have been there to protect her."

"Alas, my duty as a knight, keeps me away from my fair Louise. I am glad that someone else has stood in my stead to protect her" Wardes said, as he looked Saito up and down.

Saito took the opportunity to size up Wardes. He was indeed handsome. Even though Guiche could also be considered a bishonen himself, he was always making a fool out of himself and making irrational decisions. He could even rub his own cheek with a giant mole.

However for Wardes, not only he had the looks. His eyes were like that of an eagle – keen and sharp. That mustache he had further enhanced his suaveness.

In addition he had a muscular and well built body. Saito had originally thought that all male magicians would have a body like Guiche, but he was proven wrong. Wardes would be fairly hard for a normal person to put down in hand to hand combat, but in the eyes of Saito, Wardes is as dangerous as a fly

"What's wrong? Are you having doubts about this trip? There's nothing to be afraid of! Aren't you the one who caught Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth? With your courage alone, nothing is impossible." Wardes gave him a broad smile.

Saito looked at the man, and could tell that smile was forced. "Courage alone does nothing, without power."

Louise, not able to calm down due to Wardes' appearance, was feeling restless with anxiety.

Wardes gave a whistle, and a griffin appeared out from the morning clouds. He had climbed to the back of the griffin with grace, and then extended a hand to Louise. "Come over, my Louise."

Louise lowered her head in hesitation and bashfulness, just like a girl who is in love.

Louise, who was still hesitating, was suddenly carried up the griffin by Wardes.

With one hand on the reins and his wand in the other, Wardes shouted, "Well everybody, onwards!"

The griffin moved forward. Following behind it were Guiche and Saito

Saito thought to himself while staring at the blank sky.

_How far would it be to Albion?_

***Break***

From the headmaster's office window, Henrietta was watching Saito and group departing for Albion. Closing her eyes, she starting praying...

"Founder Brimir, please grant them protection throughout their journey..."

Next to her was Headmaster Osman trimming his nasal hair.

"You aren't going to see them off, headmaster Osman?"

"No, as you can see, I'm busy trimming my nasal hair, your highness."

Henrietta shook her head in disapproval.

Just then, someone knocked at the door.

"Enter," said the headmaster.

Mr. Colbert entered room with an anxious look on his face.

"Bad news! Headmaster!"

"You say that quite often. What seems to be the problem now?"

"From the news that I've heard from the castle guards, Fouquet has escaped!"

"Hmm..." said Osmand while stroking his beard.

"According to the guard who was on duty that time, some noble knocked him out using wind magic. The person used the opportunity that most of the manpower was diverted to protect the princess to help Fouquet escape! This means that someone inside is a spy! Isn't that bad news?"

Henrietta's face turned pale upon hearing the news.

Headmaster Osmand made a gesture to Mr. Colbert asking him to leave.

"Okay. Okay. We'll hear further details from you later."

After Mr. Colbert left, Henrietta placed her hands on the table and sighed deeply.

"We have a spy in our midst. This must be the doings of the Albion nobility!"

"Maybe it is... OUCH!" said the headmaster while trimming his nasal hair. Henrietta looked at him helplessly.

"How can you still be so relaxed? The future of Tristain is at stake!"

"The opponent has already made his move. All we can do now is to wait, isn't it?"

"Even so..."

"It's all right. If it's him, he'll be able to cope with any problems they'll face during their journey. I think you'll be quite surprised at just what that boy is capable of." The headmaster said, his voice sounding slightly heavy.

"The person you're speaking of is Guiche? Or Viscount Wardes?"

The headmaster shook his head.

"Don't tell me that person is Louise's familiar. How could that be possible? Isn't he just a commoner?"

"Your highness, have you heard of the story of Founder Brimir before?"

"I have read most of the story..."

The headmaster smiled and replied, "Then, do you know about Gandálfr?"

"Isn't that Founder Brimir's strongest familiar? Don't tell me..."

"That boy is very powerful. He has the capability to move beyond speeds that can be seen easily, and has access to two very powerful weapons. He also holds the legendary runes of the Gandálfr and furthermore, he comes from another world different from ours, truth be told i don't think he is even human. I'd not wish to face him in battle... But enough of that." The old man said, ending his serious contemplation as he went back to trimming his nasal hairs. At this point of time, Headmaster Osmand felt that he had already divulged too much. Regarding the secret of "Gandálfr" he always wanted to keep that to himself. Although he trusted Henrietta, he did not want the Royal family to know about it yet.

"Another world?"

"That's right. He comes from a world different from Halkeginia. Or I should say, from a place not on Halkeginia. I have always believed that this youth from another world will succeed. That's also the reason that I'm so carefree even during these perilous times."

"Another world different from Halkeginia really exists..."

Henrietta gazed far away, she closed her eyes, smiled and said,

"Let me pray then, for the breeze that comes from another world."

***Break***

It would take two days to reach Port City La Rochelle by horse from Tristain. The port city is situated on a deep and narrow gorge and because of this, it has a small population of three hundred. As La Rochelle is the gateway to Albion, the number of travelers is ten times more than the local population.

Boulders could be seen on both sides of the narrow mountain pathway. People had carved holes in the boulders, turning them into taverns and shops. Although the buildings look ordinary, upon closer inspection one can realize that all of them are carved out of a single rock, a feat done by Square ranked earth mages.

On the narrow street, it appeared to be dark even though it was afternoon due to the gorges blocking the sunlight. If one made a turn on the street, they could see an even narrower street leading to a bar.

On the signboard resembling a keg of wine, the shop's name was written – "Golden Wine Barrel Bar". However, nothing in the shop resembled its name; the shop was dilapidated like an abandoned house. Piles of ruined chairs could be seen piling next to the door.

Most of the patrons were gangsters and mercenaries. When drunk, they would often fight over the smallest of things like staring incidents or minor squabbles.

Whenever they'd fight, they would fight with their weapons. Therefore, it was common to see people dead or seriously injured inside the bar. The shopkeeper, not wanting to see any more injuries and deaths, put up a notice inside the shop.

"Please use the chairs when you fight in here."

From the notice, the customers could feel the shopkeeper's helplessness. So they started to use the chairs instead of their weapons when fighting each other. Even though there were still injuries, no one was killed anymore. From then on, chairs that were destroyed during fights got piled next to the door.

Today, "Golden Wine Barrel Bar" is filled with patrons as usual. Almost all the patrons are mercenaries returning from Albion which was in an internal strife.

"The king of Albion is finished!"

"Don't that means that they're going to start a republic soon?"

"If so, let us offer a toast to the republic!"

The people offering toasts to themselves were formerly mercenaries hired by the royalist to fight along side with them. However, faced with the imminent defeat of their clients, they all decided to retreat back here. This was not considered to be a dishonorable act. As mercenaries, they value their lives more than their beliefs, and so they are not obliged to fight to their death for their clients.

As they were drinking, the bar's door opened. A rather tall lady had entered the bar. The hood the lady had worn covered most of her face except the lower part of her face. However, from just the lower part of her face one can already be sure about her beauty. As it was rare for such an attractive lady to come to such a place alone, all eyes on the bar were already on her.

The lady, unfazed by all the eyes staring at her, ordered some wine and food and sat on a table in a corner of the bar. After the food was served, she promptly paid up.

"That... That's a lot of money. Is it really all right?"

"That includes lodging. Do you have any empty rooms?"

An elegant voice replied. The shopkeeper nodded his head and left her table. Several of the male patrons looked at each other and approached her table.

"Excuse me miss, it's dangerous for you to be here alone."

"That's right! There are lots of dangerous characters around. Don't worry though, we'll be here to protect you."

With a vile smile on his face, one of them lifted up the lady's hood. Whistles and catcalls could be heard once the hood was removed. The lady was quite a beauty, with her beautiful eyes and elegant nose.

This beautiful lady is none other than Fouquet of the crumbling earth.

"She's really top notch! Look at her skin! It's as white as ivory!"

Another patron attempted to lift up her chin with his arm, but his hand was pushed away by Fouquet. Fouquet gave a faint smile. Another male patron immediately stood up, took out his dagger and placed it on Fouquet's face.

"Aren't chairs supposed to be used instead of weapons at this joint?"

"This is only to frighten you. Chairs can't intimidate anybody right? Don't act so innocent anymore, aren't you here to look for company? We'll keep you company then."

Even with the dagger pointed on her face, Fouquet showed no fear. With a slight movement, she reached for a wand.

In a instant, she chanted her incantations. With that, the dagger that the man held turned into earth and settled onto the table.

"She's.. she's a noble!"

The men immediately backed away from her. As Fouquet was not wearing a cloak[3], none of them knew that she was a magician.

"Even though I'm a magician, I'm not a noble," Fouquet said nonchalantly.

"Most of you are mercenaries right?"

The male patrons looked at each other. If she was not a noble, their lives would not be endangered. If they had done that to a noble, they would be killed without any qualms.

"Yes... And you are...?" a veteran of the group replied.

"It doesn't matter. In short, I'm here to hire all of you."

"All of us?"

The mercenaries looked at Fouquet with a puzzled look on their face.

"What's with the expression? Is it really that weird for me to employ mercenaries?"

"No. That's not what I meant. You have gold, don't you?"

Fouquet placed a bag full of gold onto the table. After inspecting the contents of the bag, the veteran said, "Wow... Isn't this écu gold?"

The bar's door opened again. This time, a man wearing a white mask had entered the bar. He was the same man who had helped Fouquet escape from prison.

"Well, aren't you early."

Fouquet seeing that man, gave a low "Hmm" as a reply. The mercenaries, seeing that man's peculiar dressing, were all quite surprised. "They have started on their journey," the masked man said.

"I have done what you had told me to and hired all these men."

The man in the white mask gave a once over at the mercenaries that Fouquet had hired.

"All of you were formerly employed by the Albion royalist. Am I right?"

"That was until last month," one of the mercenaries replied with glee.

"But the soon to be defeated royalist aren't our employers anymore."

The mercenaries laughed in unison. The man in the white mask laughed as well.

"I'll fulfill all your monetary desires. However, I'm not like the soon to be defeated royalists, if anyone dares to run away from battle, I'll kill him myself."

***Break***

Since departing from the magical academy, Wardes' griffin had been endlessly moving towards their destination, Wardes' griffin just like its master, appeared to be tireless.

"Hold on, isn't the pace too fast for us?" Louise, who was on Wardes' griffin, asked. Over the duration of the journey, Louise spoke in a more informal manner to Wardes than when they were reunited. But that was also partly due to the Viscount's request.

"Guiche is already on the brink of exhaustion."

"What of Saito?" Wardes asked, as he looked at the unusual young man, who had easily kept pace with the griffin.

"I'm fine. If we need to pick up this pace, it would help though. I'm getting kinda bored and this is an important mission right?" Saito asked

Wardes turned back and looked at Guiche. Just like Louise had said, he looked to be close to the point of exhaustion.

"But I had originally planned to journey to port city La Rochelle without stopping..."

"That would be difficult, it would take two days to reach by horse."

"If that's the case, why don't we just leave them behind?" Wardes said,"If we do, we shall arrive there far more swiftly."

"Aren't we in this together? Furthermore, a magician should not abandon her familiar..." Louise said slowly.

"You seem protective of them both. Which one is your sweetheart?"

Louise's face immediately turned red and replied, "What... What sweetheart!"

"That sets my heart at ease. If my fiance tells me that she already has a sweetheart, I would die of a broken heart," replied Wardes with a smile.

"But that was only something that our parents had agreed on."

"Then, do you dislike me, my small and dainty Louise?"

"Please, I'm not young anymore," Louise replied, pouting.

"But in my eyes, you're forever that small and dainty Louise."

Louise remembered that dream that she'd had a few days back, where she was back in the courtyard of her home, la Vallière.

The secret boat on the forgotten lake...

Whenever she was throwing a tantrum there, Wardes would always be there to pacify her.

The marriage that was decided by her parents.

The betrothal that was decided since youth. The one that she would be married to. Her fiancé.

At that time, she still did not fully understand what was going on. She only knew that, so long as she was with the man she had admired, she would be happy.

But now, she finally understood everything. She would be married to Wardes.

"I don't dislike you," Louise replied with a tinge of embarrassment.

"That's wonderful, in other words, you like me?"

Wardes gently hugged Louise's shoulders.

"I have never forgotten about you even after all this time. Do you still remember? After my father's death during the lancer campaign?"

Louise nodded her head.

Wardes began to reminisce and narrated to Louise about the past.

"My mother had passed away earlier, I inherited my father's estate and title. Wanting to make a name for myself, I went to the capital. Fortunately, the highness had a deep impression of my father who had perished in the battlefield, I was incorporated into the Griffin Knights. I had entered the Griffin Knights as a trainee, training was tough then.

"From then on, you seldom went back to your estate again," replied Louise while closing her eyes. She too seemed to be immersed in her memories.

"My house and estate were cared for by butler Galgann while I put all my effort serving the nation. After so long, I finally made a name for myself, accomplishing what I had decided upon leaving my homeland."

"What was that you have decided upon?"

"To ask your hand for marriage once I have made a name for myself."

"You're kidding right, Viscount? You're so popular among the girls, you have no need to honor your promise to such a failure like me." Louise said, looking away from him. About Wardes' betrothal. Louise had cleanly forgotten it until she had that dream a few days back. The bridal pact to Wardes was all but a fleeting dream. In her opinion, it was only a agreement made on a whim.

After Wardes had left his estate ten years ago, Louise had never seen him again. Wardes had already become part of her distant memory. Distant memories had suddenly become reality.

"This journey is a good chance for us to regain those feelings we had when you were young," Wardes said with a gentle and calm tone.

Louise thought to herself, do I really love Wardes?

Even though she did not dislike him and she did admire him when she was young, that was all in the past.

Suddenly faced with a fiancé and probably marriage, she did not know what to do. Furthermore, they had been apart for so many years, she did not really know whether if she still had any feelings for him.

Louise turned her head and looked behind.

She saw Saito assisting Guiche with his horse. For such a jerk of a familiar, he sure was caring. In his own stupid way, she thought after that, her face heating.

"We have already been on these horses for nearly a whole day, doesn't he get tired? Are those griffin knights monsters?" Guiche asked as the horse he was on trotted a little faster.

"He's nothing special. He is just more used to this than you. Don't worry so much." Saito said,"You've held on a lot longer than i thought ya would kid." He glared at Viscount

Saito looked around in astonishment. _Aren't we approaching a port? Why do I still see mountains everywhere? Maybe once we cross this mountain we should be able to see the ocean._

Traveling under the moonlight, Saito and the group finally saw a narrow mountain pathway. Buildings which were carved from boulders could be seen on both sides of the pathway.

"Why is a port built on top of a mountain?"

Hearing Saito asking, Guiche replied sarcastically "Don't tell me that you don't even know where Albion is?"

"Yeah, I don't know."

"Really?" Guiche replied with laughter. But Saito did not laugh.

"I have no common knowledge of this world and please don't assume that I do."

Suddenly, from top of the cliff, torches were thrown at the their horses. The burning torches illuminated the ravine they were about to cross.

"What's... What's happening !?" Guiche cried.

The horses, frightened by the burning torches, threw Saito and Guiche off their backs.

As they fell, a hail of arrows showered upon them.

"It's an ambush!" Guiche shouted.

Saito unsheathe Derflinger almost immediately and made a cutting motion the send all the arrows away with a powerful gust of wind.

"Are you guys all right?" Saito shouted.

"I'm all right..." replied Guiche

Saito looked at the top of the cliff, but no arrows could be seen.

"It was most likely thieves or bandits." Wardes said.

Louise, suddenly realizing something exclaimed, "Could it be the nobles from Albion?"

"Nobles would not use arrows."

Just then, the sound of flapping wings could be heard. It was a sound that they were quite familiar with...

Screams could be heard from the cliffs.

Arrows could be seen shooting towards the night sky. However, all the arrows were parried away by wind magic.

After that, a small hurricane created by magic blew away all the archers.

"Hmm... Aren't those wind incantations?" Wardes mumbled to himself.

The archers, attempting to ambush them, rolled down the cliffs after being blown away by the magical tornado. They landed hard onto the ground, giving out moans of pain.

With the moon as the background, a familiar sight appeared. "It's Sylphid!" Louise shouted confoundedly.

It was Tabitha's wind dragon. After it landed, a red-haired girl jumped down from the dragon and flicked her hair.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Louise too jumped down from Wardes' griffin and replied, "What do you mean sorry to keep you waiting!? Why are you here in the first place?"

"Not to help you in any case. When I saw you leaving the academy on the horse in the morning, I quickly woke up Tabitha and followed you all the way here."

Kirche pointed at Tabitha, from the looks of it she was woken up from her sleep; she was still wearing her pajamas. But she didn't seem to mind at all, and was still reading a book.

"Zerbst! Listen to me, we're on a secret mission given to us by her highness!"

"Secret mission? You should have said so earlier! How would I know if you did not tell me about it? Anyways, be thankful to me, for I have apprehended the people who wanted to ambush you!"

Kirche said while pointed to the people who were lying on the ground. Those ambushers were unable to move due to their injuries and hurled abuses towards Louise and the group. Guiche approached them and began interrogating them.

Louise, crossing her arms, gave a vicious stare at Kirche.

"Don't be mistaken! I'm not here to assist you. Am I right?"

Kirche posed suggestively, and then leaned on Wardes, who was on the griffin, and said, "Your beard makes you very manly. Do you know what passion looks like?"

Wardes glanced at Kirche and proceeded to push her away using his left hand.

"Huh?"

"Thank you for coming to our aid, but please do not get so close to me ever again."

"But why? I just told you that I liked you!"

That was the first time that Kirche received such cold treatment from a male. Usually any male would be mesmerized after some sweet-talking from her. But Wardes was not in the least interested. Kirche gazed at Wardes with her mouth wide open.

"I'm sorry. But I cannot let my fiancée misunderstand." Wardes said while looking at Louise; her face turned red from embarrassment in an instant.

"What? She's your fiancée!?"

Wardes nodded in response. Kirche took a closer look at Wardes, she did not realize it before. Wardes' eyes showed no emotion at all. Just like ice.

Guiche who was interrogating those ambushers had just returned.

"Viscount, those ambushers admitted that they were robbers."

"Hmm.. If they're just robbers, let them go."

Wardes effortlessly mounted back to the top of his griffin, carrying Louise up with him. He then announced to everyone, "We'll spend the night at La Rochelle, tomorrow we will take the first ship to Albion at the break of dawn."

Kirche sat behind Saito, sharing the same horse with him. Guiche also mounted back to his horse. As for Tabitha, she was still reading her book on her wind dragon.

In front of them, sandwiched between two cliffs, was the port city La Rochelle, dazzling with lights.

* * *

Review if you like, next chapter in a week or two.


	9. The Traitor

Tired from riding all day, they had decided to rest at the fanciest hotel in the city of La Rochelle, the Goddess' Temple. It was a very fancy place even for a noble. The dining tables and floor were both made from the same marble and the floor was so clean that one could see their own face on it. Saito was rather impressed with the amount of work that went into this.

Wardes and Louise came back from the pier a short time later.

When Wardes sat down he said hesitantly, "The ship for Albion leaves the day after tomorrow."

"This mission is very urgent..." Louise pointed out.

Guiche and the rest finally relaxed, knowing tomorrow they could rest.

"I have never been to Albion, so I do not know why there is no ship tomorrow. Anyone willing to enlighten me?" Saito asked conversationally.

Wardes looked at Saito, his cold eyes focusing on him for a moment. "I believe the two moons are overlapping tomorrow. If that is the case, then Albion should be closest to La Rochelle." Wardes put the keys on the table, "Let's rest for now, so take the keys. Tabitha and Kirche take one room, Guiche and Saito take another." Guiche and Saito stared at each other. Wardes continued, "Louise and I will be sharing a room."

"Why do you stay with Louise?" Saito asked.

"It is the obvious arrangement, as Louise and I are engaged."

Louise looked at Wardes in shock and said, "B-but we can't! We're not even married yet!"

Saito nodded. That's right, she shouldn't sleep with him.

But Wardes shook his head and told Louise, "There is something important I have to tell you."

Wardes and Louise stayed in the best room in the hotel. They wondered who designed the room. There was an enormous four-poster bed with delicate lace hanging from the top. Wardes sat down at the table, opened a bottle of wine and poured himself a cup. He chugged it down and said, "Why don't you sit down and have a cup as well, Louise?"

Louise sat down, too. He poured a cup for Louise and refilled his own. He then raised his cup and said, "Cheers!" Louise however held hers in her hands and bowed down her head.

Wardes asked, "Did you keep the princess's letter safe?"

Louise patted her pocket to make sure it was still there. I wonder why it is so important. What is in this letter? Does the prince already have a letter ready? I think I figured out a small part of it. Being Henrietta's childhood friend, I know how she writes her letters.

Wardes looked at Louise with wonder. Then Louise nodded and said, "The letter is still safe. Are you worried that we might not be able to get the letter from the prince of Albion?"

"Yes, I am very worried," Wardes answered.

Louise arched her lovely eyebrows and said, "Don't worry; it will be fine because I'll always be with you."

"That's right; if you're here there will definitely be no problems. It has always been that way," Wardes sounded very distant when he said that.

"Do you still remember the promise of the day when we were at the lake?" Louise asked.

He nodded his head, "In the little boat that was floating in the middle of lake? You would always go there after being scolded by your parents. You were like an abandoned kitten."

"Really? You remember the weirdest things."

Wardes replied happily, "Of course I have to remember those things. You were always compared to your sisters in terms of magical power."

Louise lowered her head, embarrassed, and he said, "But I think that's wrong. You are worthless and a failure, but-"

"You are so mean!" Louise said angrily.

"You have an incredible power that nobody else has. I know this because you are a different kind of magician," Wardes finished, ignoring what Louise said.

"That's impossible!"

Wardes replied, "But it is possible. For example, whenever you use your magic..."

Louise's face turned red as she said, "The accident about Saito?"

"Those runes are legendary. If I'm mistaken, they glow whenever he picks up a weapon."

"Yes, they do. But how does that make him legendary?"

"Yes, those runes belong to the legendary familiar Gandálfr. The familiar that once belonged to Founder Brimir," Wardes' eyes shone with admiration.

Louise asked, "Gandálfr?"

"Not just anyone can control Gandálfr. You have the magic to control him."

"That's hard to believe," Louise tilted her head, believing that Wardes was joking around. She didn't really have control of Saito. He just had nowhere else to go. Louise shook her head, thinking about what Saito had once said-he had believed in her even then, even though he hadn't said so. I am always a failure, there is no way I could have the power Wardes mentioned.

"You could become a great mage. Yes, like Founder Brimir, you can leave your name in history as a great mage. I believe so." Wardes gazed at Louise warmly. "After this mission, marry me Louise."

"Ah…." The sudden marriage proposal left Louise speechless.

"I am not satisfied to be just a mage captain of the Magic Knights... I want to become a noble that will move the whole of Halkeginia someday."

"B-but..."

"But what?"

"I...I am still...still…."

"You are not a child anymore, you are 16 years old. You have reached the age when you can decide things. Your father agrees, too. So..."Wardes abruptly stopped. Then he looked up and brought his face close to Louise. "It is true, I never came to look for you, and I have to apologize. Marriage is not something to be spoken of easily, this I also know. But Louise, to me you are the most important thing of all."

"Wardes-" Louise thought about it. Why did Saito's face keep popping up in her mind? After marrying Wardes, will she have to leave Saito? I don't understand why, but I constantly feel this is wrong. If it was a crow or owl type of familiar it wouldn't be so troublesome. If no one takes care of this dragon from another world, what will happen to him?

Who was she kidding? Saito had never needed her, or anyone else to take care of him. She'd needed him more than anything.

Kirche or…Siesta…they will take care of him right? I don't understand why, but this is extremely annoying. Louise thought, just like a small girl she wanted to have Saito all to herself, but will he stay if he does not agree with the marriage? From what she has seen, Saito is not really friendly with Wardes—hell, he is friendlier with Guiche.

I don't want him to become someone else's property. He is mine. She thought to herself.

Louise raised her head. "Still…Still…."

"Still?"

"That...that I am not a mage of your caliber yet, I still need to study…." Louise lowered her head, keeping it low as she murmured, "Wardes, when I was young that is what I always thought…someday I must make everyone recognize me; become a great mage, and make my mother and father proud." Louise raised her head, staring at the older man.

"I, I still cannot reach that yet."

"Is it because someone has already stolen your heart?"

"It is nothing like that, there's no chance for that to happen!" Louise denied in a panic.

"It's not important…I understand. For now, I won't ask for an answer. But, after this journey is over, I will certainly lighten your heart."

Louise nodded in reply.

"In that case, let's go to bed, you are already tired, right?" Suddenly, Wardes came close to Louise, wanting to kiss her.

Instantly, Louise's body stiffened. Then she pushed Wardes away.

"Louise?"

"I'm sorry...but, things like...that..." Louise pridefully stared at Wardes.

He smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I am not in a hurry."

Louise lowered her head again. Why, even though Wardes is so gentle, handsome, and strong…even though I have yearned for him for such a long time... Yet, I am not happy, even when I receive a marriage proposal. Someone else had already caught her heart. But Louise's mind refused to think about the one who caught it.

Outside the window, Saito listened to Louise and Wardes' conversation. He noticed that the older man kept attempting to kiss Louise, only to be denied.

How did he know about Gandálfr? Saito wondered.

"What are you doing here? Do you like to take strolls on the wall? It took me forever to find you," someone said from behind him. It was Kirche who landed on his shoulder, and our hero's eyes were blinded because his face was covered by the Germanian's mini-skirt.

"Hey, get off me!" Saito replied as he pulled his face out of Kirche's skirt.

"Why, is it not good? Hey, what are you looking at?" After Kirche turned to look in the window, she turned around to face Saito again and put her arms around him. "No, don't peek at the newlyweds; we shouldn't care about them. This is what I think; a quiet date on this wall is so romantic. Look how beautiful the lights from the city are. Don't you think they are cheering for us?"

"Hmm, maybe that is a good idea," Saito said.

The two prepared to move away from Louise's window when suddenly the window slammed open.

One look and they saw Louise with her hands placed on her hips. But her lovely face was twisted into a demonic mask, staring straight at Kirche and Saito. "What are you two doing next to my window?"

"Can't you understand it, even after you've seen it? This is a date."

Saito tried to say something, but his lips were covered by Kirche's hands, making him look puzzled.

Louise's shoulders started to quake in fury. "Go, go, go-go have romance somewhere else! You, you-you two stray dogs!" Louise said, her face turning red with rage.

"But darling wants to have a date here," Kirche replied triumphantly.

In an instant Louise's foot flew in their direction; Kirche ducked then climbed on to the wall, and Saito jumped so the shorter girl's foot just struck air.

"Well, sorry if we interrupted something, Louise. See you around." Saito said, grasping Kirche's hand before disappearing in a whirlwind of fire.

Wardes sat in his room and watched, astonished. Perhaps that familiar will be a much bigger obstacle the he originally thought.

***Break***

The second morning, Saito woke up to someone knocking on his door. Since Guiche was still sleeping soundly on the bed next to him, without another choice the half-devil could only climb out of the bed to answer.

Wardes, with his usual hat, looked down at Saito and start to speak. "Good morning, familiar."

Louise's fiancé calling him like this made Saito angry. Saito looked at the knight and replied with a simple, blunt, "What?"

Wardes only smiled faintly. "Are you the Gandálfr of the legend?"

"I'm a number of things. I've been told that's one of them." Saito still wondered just where the hell the man got his information.

Wardes looked at him with that false, genial smile and said lightly, "After that case with Fouquet, I hold a great interest in you. I asked Louise earlier; I heard you are from another world and I also heard you are the legendary Gandálfr."

Saito laughed, "And, what of it?" Saito wondered who had told him. He damn well knew that Old Osmond hadn't told anyone. That left Colbert…and Fouquet…FUCK!

"I find history and warfare extremely interesting. When Fouquet was captured, I became very interested in you. Then I did some research in the Imperial Library. The result of that research is my discovery that you are the legendary familiar, Gandálfr," Wardes said, sounding proud of his hard work.

"Oh, is that so? You are really a scholar," Saito said simply.

"I want to know how strong the person who captured Fouquet is; can you show me?"

"Show you?"

Wardes pulled out his wand from his belt, "Let me put it this way..."

"A duel?" Saito replied with a sadistic smile.

"Exactly."

Wardes and Saito smiled together. Taking one look at the still sleeping Guiche, Saito wondered how long this would take. He is the Captain of the Magic Knights, and you don't normally become a captain like that without some qualifications. Saito would just see how this played out.

"Where do you want to duel?"

"This hotel used to be a castle designed for repelling Albion's invasions, there is a parade ground in the center of it."

The two then left for the parade ground of the nobles. The ancient practice ground was now a place filled with debris and refuse; empty beer barrels and crates were scattered all over the place.

"Before, maybe you don't know, but under the reign of Philip III, this often used to be a place to host duels between nobility."

Saito looked at him and took out Derflinger from his shoulder sheath, but much to Wardes' sudden surprise, the rune was glowing before his hand had even touched the blade.

"A long time ago, the king still had the power to duel. It was a time when Nobles were noble; they risked life for fame and honor. We nobles fought with magic. But it was usually fought over boring issues, such as a lover or some minor disagreement."

"What?"

"There are certain rules regarding dueling, even though we don't have a witness here."

"Witness?"

"Calm down, someone is coming," Wardes replied, and Louise appeared from a nearby entrance. She was dumbfounded as she saw the two men together. "Wardes, you called me over and I came, what are you two preparing to do?"

"I want to test his abilities a little."

"Really? Let's stop this nonsense. Now is not the time for this kind of stupidity."

"It is true, but the noble-born wants a duel. He really wants to find out if I am strong or weak," Saito said simply.

Louise stared at her familiar, before responding, "Stop now, that is an order."

"Louise, since when do I take orders from someone weaker than me? I'll protect you, and I'll kill for you because I'm indebted to you. But do not forget, I am not your slave; and if I want, I can just erase our contract with Incinerate Anthem. I hope you do not forget that I can burn a rune, too," Saito said, as he looked at her. He could see the fear in her eyes…fear of losing him.

Wardes watched in puzzlement and simply continued, "Since the witness is here, let us begin." Wardes pulled out his wand from his belt again, and entered a combat stance, with his wand pointing at Saito.

Saito commented, "Let's have some fun."

Wardes responded with a light laugh, "Hit me with everything you have."

"Sorry, but I'd rather not destroy this city," Saito said as he leaped forward with a slash. The magic knight parried the attack with his wand, and the two weapons rang as solidly as if steel on steel, sending sparks in all directions. While Wardes' weapon was merely a small wand, he was able to block Saito's long sword without a sweat.

Saito didn't expect the hurricane-like wind that was caused when the two clashed; Wardes increased his speed and he charged toward Saito, which surprised Saito. The dragon responded with a chopping strike that broke Wardes' advance, leaving the black cape of the Magic Knights flipping in the wind. The captain, in response, leaped a few steps back, and then reversed back to his stance.

"Why isn't that guy using his magic?" Saito questioned aloud.

Derflinger mumbled in response, "You can't make him; he is looking down on you. You're just not good enough to force his hand."

"A Magic Knight isn't someone who only chants magic," Wardes answered with a tip of his hat.

Saito started to grin like an idiot. Is this guy really a Captain of the Magic Knights…when he can't even see that Saito hasn't even started to use his power, or even Gandalf's rune?

"The way we chant is fully specialized for battle: the way we hold our wands, the motion we use to charge, the way we use our wands as swords, complete with spell craft. This is the basics for our soldiers."

As Wardes spoke to Saito, Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche came into the arena to find the two opponents conducting a battle.

"Hey, Louise, why is Darling and you fiancée fighting?" Kirche asked.

"Wardes wants to see if Saito is strong," Louise replied, concerned for both men.

"What do you think is going to happen?" asked Guiche.

"I don't know, but let's see," Louise replied, but suddenly a heavy pressure made it hard to breath.

All watched Saito become enveloped with a red aura. Saito suddenly smiled. He spoke, but it was almost as if it wasn't him speaking. "Then I suppose that means I can show it to you, right?"

"Show it to me? What are you talking about?" The magician said, afraid of Saito's strange aura.

"A hint of the true power of Sekiryutei," Saito grinned, then looked away for a moment before the ground where he stood was completely destroyed by his pressure. He brought Derflinger around lazily, and moved it from left to right, releasing an attack in the form of a crescent moon.

Wardes quickly jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit by Saito's strike. Even though the attack didn't hit Wardes, more than half of the practice ground was completely obliterated.

"What the hell did you do?" Wardes asked fearfully.

"What? This is a weak attack, only something like two percent of my true power. Most people where I come from can stop something like this with a single hand.

"You're joking, right?" Guiche asked, fearing for his life.

"No," Saito replied simply, and turned to look at Wardes. "So do you want to continue? The next time I'm not going to miss."

"What do you mean? I jumped out of the way, it is not like you tried to miss me," Wardes said.

"I sent this attack at a very slow speed; normally, something like this is not even able to be seen by a normal human. So, more or less, I let you live. Now, do you want to continue, or do you yield?"

"I yield," Wardes said and stood up.

"Good," Saito replied before heading back into the hotel.

"You are a monster. Someone like you can't protect Louise," Wardes said.

"Yes, I'm a monster, but don't worry-I can protect Louise and I will do it. If not for me, Louise would already be dead by now," Saito commented,

But Wardes started again. "True, but aren't you going to Albion? Might you do battle? When you are surrounded by strong enemies, what do you plan to do? You might be able to take on one mage, but what if there are more?" Wardes questioned, pressing the point.

Louise became silent, and then looked at Saito with worried eyes. The energy that had surrounded him was dimming slowly, and he left without a reply to Wardes' query. Louise tried to go after him, but something was holding her.

"Leave him, Louise," Wardes said, grabbing on to Louise's hands.

"But…." she protested.

"Let's leave him there for a bit. He obviously needs time to cool off, if a simple duel would make him go that far," he said.

Louise hesitantly bit her lip for a moment and, with another tug from Wardes, left.

Derflinger the sword demanded, "Partner, what the hell was that?!"

"Just a bit of my power," Saito replied.

"Yes, right. If that is 'a bit,' I don't want to see what a 'powerful' attack means to you. Anyway, I remember something-what was it? It happened a long time ago…oh, that! Saito!" the sword shouted.

"What, Derf?" Saito asked, his voice sounding tired.

"I just remembered! Magic!" The sword cried out.

"You can do magic!" Saito asked in confusion. "How did you forget that?"

"No! I can't do magic. I can CUT magic!" Derflinger said, happily.

"Wait, what?" Saito was bewildered.

"Well, I guess it's not cutting, but I can absorb it! If I absorb too much, it takes a while to leave me, and I won't be able to really absorb anymore. But it's still one of the reasons I'm the Gandalf's blade! I'm your guard against magic!"

"You just remembered that now?" Saito said his voice grating.

"Hey, you try being old like me, and we'll see how you do!"

"I'm over six thousand years old. That old enough?" Saito said, having trouble holding in a laugh.

"…You are a dragon, you have a better mind."

"Right. Well, that's good to know. I suppose having an ace in the hole will be nice, in case something happens," Saito said.

***Break***

That night, Saito stared at the moon from his balcony window. Guiche and company were drinking in the bar on the first floor. Tomorrow they were heading for Albion, so everyone was partying below. Kirche came with an invitation, but he refused.

Apparently, the group could leave when the two moon eclipse; it was the day in which Albion was closest to the world.

Saito looked up to the starlit night sky. In the sea of stars, the pink moon hid behind the white moon, and thus became one moon sparking with a peach color. That moon reminded him of the one of his homeland, the moon of Earth. He turned as a sound interrupted his musings.

Louise stood there, looking at Saito. "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry. I'm alright," Saito said, and observed how Louise stared at him for a few minutes before she finally spoke.

"Why did you nearly kill Wardes?" asked Louise.

"I just wanted to scare him. If I wanted him dead, he would be ten feet underground right now," Saito replied.

"Why did you need to scare him?"

"I don't trust him, so I wanted to be sure he doesn't try anything funny," Saito said.

"Why don't you trust him? The princess sent him here to help us. That should be more than enough to trust him," Louise replied with a bit of anger.

"For a human, yes. For a dragon, no," Saito commented.

"What do you mean?"

"A dragon will not trust someone just because someone with such authority sent him."

"I still don't get it," Louise said.

"If you want to have the trust of a dragon, you have to prove that you're on his side. Wardes hasn't done anything to make me trust him. You managed to summon me, that is enough for me to trust you," Saito said, looking at Louise's face.

"Huh?"

"You don't really think you are the only person in more than six thousand years to try and summon me, do you?" Saito asked, nearly laughing.

"So you've had more masters?"

"Just two. The first was the girl who turned me into a devil, and now you are my second master."

"So why did you trust me? You still haven't told me."

"Just a person with a pure heart, who doesn't want to use me or my power for evil can summon me. I trust you because if you managed to summon me, that means you are not going to try to use me for you own gain. But people can change, if you give them enough power," Saito replied slowly.

"And if I change and try to use your power for myself? What are you going to do?" Louise asked, afraid.

"If you use my power for something I think is right, then I will help you; but if you use it for your own satisfaction, or to do bad deeds, then I will kill you."

After Saito finished, Louise made a shocked face for some time before she managed to reply, "You can't kill me, you are my familiar," Louise said, but she knew that if Saito wanted, he could kill her, and she couldn't do anything to stop him.

"Do you want to try your theory?" Saito asked, smirking.

"No, thank you," Louise said nearly instantly and Saito started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Louise asked, blushing.

"I just remembered some old times, when I was with my friends."

"Why are you telling me this?" Louise demanded.

"Simple. You did say you want to learn about your familiar's past, right?" Saito asked.

"Of course I do!" Louise said.

"Then be warned. It's not a particularly happy one," Saito stated.

"You can make a happier future!" Louise said. "Kirche fell in love with you. Siesta has fallen for you, too, you know. You can live a happy life here!" Louise stood and marched up to Saito. "If all you've had in your old world is your prison that you came from, then I'm not going to let you go back, no matter what!" she yelled at him. "I won't let you go back!" she yelled again as she hugged him.

"I am not going to marry Wardes," Louise said to him slowly.

"I didn't think you would," Saito said, as he continued, "You have a forceful personality. It would easily be one of your greatest traits. To mute that would be a terrible shame." While she'd been abusive at times, there were a number of times he'd purposely provoked her; it was fun to watch and listen to her go off at times. She had passion, if nothing else.

Just at that moment…

"The hell!" Saito shouted. Louise turned her head around, and to her surprise, something had appeared that swallowed the moon, and it was nowhere to be seen.

Beneath the moon's shadow, there appeared to be a giant. If they looked at it closely, the huge shadow turned out to be a golem made of stone. The person controlling the golem turned out to be…

"Fouquet!" Saito and Louise shouted in unison.

She sat on the golem's shoulder as she cheerfully answered, "Oh, it is such an honor to be remembered!"

The sword on Saito shoulder asked, "Shouldn't you be rotting in jail?"

Fouquet shouted back, "Somebody had a kind heart. A beauty like me shouldn't be contriving to the welfare of the world, so they let me escape."

It was dark, so not many people could see it, but there was a figure in the black cape of nobility standing next to the woman. Was that guy the person who helped her escape? The noble supported Fouquet's actions, but remained silent. Because the figure wore a mask, no one could see anything clearly, but it appeared to be a man.

"…So you are someone who can't mind their own business…what are you doing here?" Saito brandished his sword with his left hand.

"I am here to thank you for the long vacation you gave me. I intend to send you my appreciation!" Fouquet howled in laughter, as the huge golem pulverized the fence on the balcony with one hit. The fence was carved right out of solid stone, so it appeared the power of the golem had increased significantly.

"That was stone, not dirt, so calm down!"

"No one is trying to be calm here!"

"Louise, get down to where Wardes is, I can't fight if you are here," Saito said.

"Fine," Louise said and ran away. Escaping the room, Louise leaped down the stairs.

After Louise ran away, Saito appeared above Fouquet's golem with Derf in his left hand. Piercing the arm of it with his sword, he removed the first half with a single slash and continued running up the remainder. Suddenly, he noticed a movement from the man in black, and he saw a powerful cloud of electricity come at him. He lifted his sword into a guarded position, and swung Derflinger at it, absorbing the energy, but some of it still hit him.

"Got anything better than that? If not, this is gonna be a tad disappointing," Saito said as he ran at them again, his sword slamming home into Fouquet's gut. She let out a gasp and passed out from the pain. Saito pulled Derflinger from her abdomen and kicked her off the golem in the direction of the hotel. He dashed up to the man in black, and slammed Derflinger into him; the mage readily collapsed, his robe and staff dropping to the ground.

After Saito destroyed the golem, he went over to where Fouquet was and shook her to wake her up.

"What are you going to do with me now?" Fouquet asked.

"I want to know who got you out of jail cell."

"It was the Viscount Wardes who released me, on the condition that I would serve the rebels of Albion, the organization called Reconquista." She gave me a tired look. "Though he questioned me briefly about you, he only asked me about your status as Gandálfr. He still does not know that you're a mage as well," She laughed harshly, wincing as she did so. "My own little vengeance against him for sending me to my death."

"Thank you. Now I will ask you one last question," Saito said.

"Ask it already," Fouquet replied, tired from her blood loss.

"Do you want to live or do you want to be killed?" Saito asked.

"What?" Fouquet exclaimed.

"I will let you live, but with one condition," Saito said.

"What…tell me?" Fouquet said, hoping she will have a chance to live.

"I will put a seal on you. The seal can let me kill you anytime I want, but I can hear what you hear, and I can see what you see." Saito informed the captured rebel.

"So you want to put this seal on me so I will live, but you can just play with my life…any way you want?" Fouquet asked with venom in her voice.

"No, that is not it. I want you to continue to support Reconquista, but as my spy. And about the seal…it is not as bad as it sounds. You can teleport from wherever you are, to wherever you want in a mere second. We can speak using the seal. And don't worry, it is not like I will see everything with the seal; it is just if I want to watch. More or less, it is a way for me to make sure you don't give away any information about me," Saito replied.

"And after you are finished with using me, what will you do for me?" Fouquet asked.

"I will erase it. But if you want to continue as my spy or something similar, I will let the seal remain, and you can even use it if you want to steal from nobles again. As I said, you can teleport wherever you want with it," Saito said with a smile.

"Fine, I accept," Fouquet said, and in Saito's hand crimson light appeared and entered into Fouquet's body.

"The seal is now active; you can see it on you left hand," Saito said and Fouquet looked at her left hand to see a tattoo with a red dragon.

"If someone sees this?" asked Fouquet.

"Don't worry, just you and me can see it," said Saito.

"Ok, now I'm going to _'run away'_." said Fouquet as she prepared to leave.

"Before you leave, tell me your name, your true name," Saito said with a smile, making Fouquet blush a bit.

"Matilda de Sachsen-Gotha," she said, before leaving in a red magic circle.

Suddenly, a group of soldiers stormed the front of the inn, ready to assault Wardes and company, who were drinking.

Guiche, Kirche, Tabitha, Louise and Wardes were using magic to defend themselves. However, there were too many people. It appeared every soldier from La Rochelle was part of the attack.

Kirche broke one of the table's legs, and decided to use the table as a shield against the coming foes. It was soon obvious that the attacking soldiers were skilled in fighting magic-using foes. While they were fighting, the soldiers observed Kirche and her allies' range and style. Then they moved out the mages' range to attack with bows. The soldiers hidden from the dark had the advantage of the field, leaving those inside the room facing a bitter battle. If anyone stood up to chant magic, they were answered with a torrential volley of arrows.

The other nobles and guests were hiding under the counter and shaking with fear. The fat innkeeper called out to the soldiers, "What are you doing to my establishment?" But one arrow slammed into his shoulder, leaving him slumped on the ground.

"This is really troublesome," listening to Wardes' words, Kirche nodded.

"It appears that there was more than one band of mercenaries," Kirche said simply.

"Maybe Albion's nobles are behind this?" Guiche guessed.

Kirche raised her wand, and mumbled, "…Those guys are planning for us to use our magic, exhaust ourselves then come in with a charge. What can we do?"

"My Valkyries will protect us."

"Guiche, your Valkyries are only a small squad, these are seasoned mercenaries."

"If we don't try, we will never know."

"But Guiche, when it comes to warfare, I am a far better expert than you are."

"But I am the son of General de Gramont, how could I lose to this band of idiot soldiers?"

"This is intolerable. The nobles of Tristain are only tough with their words; their actual combat capabilities are pretty weak."

Guiche stood up, preparing to chant his magic. But Wardes stopped him by grabbing onto the young noble's shirt.

"Everyone listen carefully," Wardes whispered. They quieted down to listen. "This mission counts as complete if one half of the group arrives safely at the destination."

At this moment, the cute Tabitha closed her book and also looked in Wardes' direction. The girl used her staff and pointed at herself, Kirche and Guiche and uttered one word, "Bait."

At that moment, a crash resounded as Saito made his entrance, with Boosted Gears on his left hand and Derf in his right hand. He cut down arrows that were being sent at him, and created a general sort of chaos, thereby causing the mercenaries to break.

"Boost"

**[Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost]**

**[Explosion]**

_"Dragon Shoot!"_ yelled Saito, and a red wave of magic power struck and obliterated all the mercenaries.

Saito watched if someone survive, and then when he was sure there was none alive, he walked back to his group. "Is everyone okay? I'm sorry I took so long dealing with Fouquet. But there was another mage up there as well. And if I had to make my guess, it was a damned powerful one."

"Oh, what makes you say that?" Wardes asked curiously, almost pridefully.

"As I said, it is just a guess", Saito said, lying through his teeth. "But that's not important," Saito continued as he looked around the room, inspecting each person carefully. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Ah, no. I don't think anyone is," Guiche said. "You came at just the right time. Although, why are you so concerned? If we really did get hurt, we'd probably need to go see a water mage or something. No offense but I'm not sure what you could do."

"Maybe I'm not a water mage, but I have some healing magic of my own," Saito said.

"Um, Darling, is there anything you can't do?" Kirche asked, looking at Saito through new eyes. Powerful, compassionate, destructive, bold. He was everything someone ruled by fire and passion could want.

"Sing!" Saito said, shaking his fists, then sighed.

"Saito," Wardes interrupted him, "I must ask. Why didn't your runes glow when you were fighting the mercenaries?"

"Oh. I wasn't resolved to fight. I simply chose to kill them because the only thing they were going to understand was a large and quick loss of numbers. I needed to break the morale they received by the money they were undoubtedly paid. A sound tactic, no?" Saito asked.

"Very sound. But why kill all of them?"

"An old friend once said, "Only those who prepared to fire should be fired at." Saito paused for a moment, then said," So Wardes…you couldn't even protect Louise. I protected all of you. I may or may not be a monster, but I'm stronger than you. Even if you can't understand all of my power. At least I was able to protect those who I am responsible for. You simply sat behind a table. I must commend your bravery though. You didn't soil yourself or anything, so that's a few points there, right?"

"Now you listen here!" Wardes said, unable to take such slander, his hand reaching for his wand.

"No, you listen to me!" Saito countered as he pinned Wardes up against the wall. "Say what the hell you want about me, I don't care. But do not ever get in the way of my duty, or I swear you will regret it. Do you understand me? I held back in that duel. I could tell more than a few of your strikes were intended to be fatal. That didn't matter. I didn't aim in kind. So what the hell does that say about you, friend?" Saito demanded in a harsh voice.

Wardes looked down into the eyes of the familiar. Something wasn't right about them. He shook his head. "I admit. I was out of line. My pride took a beating at your hand; and I am sorry to say that I lost my composure because of it. It is a deep shame, and I apologize. Can you forgive me?"

"I can, for now at least," Saito said coldly as he turned around and walked away. Saito knew for a fact the man would ignore his warning. But without true proof he couldn't act.


	10. The Prince of a Dying Country

"So, what now?" Saito asked as he surveyed the battle scarred inn.

"We should probably move. We need to get that airship moving now, or we'll likely be open to another attack" Wardes said with a simple finality

"Makes sense. Lets go then" Saito said

"Saito, I'm thinking we should split our group. The larger a group, the easier we will draw attention from the nobles of Albion. Having a Dragon familiar along with us will also be something to attract attention. In our current situation that is not what we really wish for." Wardes said.

Saito looked at him, thinking over the logic the man had used. It made sense.

"No! I'm not going to let my beloved go alone into a war!" Kirche said, her shoulders square.

"You must see the logic behind this. The mission we are on has the very security of both Tristian and Germania at stake." Wardes said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I'll take care of this" Saito murmured to Wardes. "Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche, can I talk to you for a moment?" Saito said, as he walked to the other side of the bar. When they were surrounding him, he spoke softly. "I want you three to stay back, for now at last. I have some reason to believe the Wardes is with Albion noble, meanwhile i suppose you would be useful if you were to perhaps keep an eye out here, and perhaps delay any that would seek to follow us. With the three of you, I'm sure you can do that without endangering yourselves. At least I would hope so" Saito said doubtfully. He looked down as he paused again.

"Rear guard?" Tabitha asked with an inclination of her heard.

"Exactly. I know you all want to help, but honestly, we need to move swiftly and with minimal attention. And delaying any attacks from the rear could be far more helpful than having us get involved in larger conflict because we draw too much attention," Saito stated.

"I see..." Guiche said, sounding disappointed, then perked up for a moment, "At least I will not be separated from my beautiful Beldandy!"

"Will you truly leave me behind?" Kirche said as she latched on to Saito arm.

"Yeah." Saito said simply. "We have to get going before another group of mercenaries gets here. Without us here, they won't be looking for any of you either. I'll see you all when we return. I'm counting on you" he removed his arm from Kirche's grip and gave a knowing smirk. He walked up to Wardes who was standing with Louise, and said simply," And that's how you head off an argument"

"What?" Louise asked, bewildered at the reactions from the other three. While she hadn't heard much of the conversation she hadn't thought the three of them would leave so easily.

"I simply gave them another task. This way they don't fight staying behind, and in the off chance another mercenary group does show up, we'll have at least some extra breathing room" Saito responded.

"Very well done, familiar. That is exactly how we handle the upstart rookies from the highest of noble families," Wardes said laughing, "We should leave, before anything else comes"

***Break***

Saito and company ran towards the harbor, their road illuminated by the bright moon. Wardes ran towards a certain building's long stairs, and began walking up them.

"Aren't we heading towards some 'harbor'? Why are we climbing a hill?" Asked Saito. Wardes did not answer.

After climbing a long flight of stairs, they arrived on top of a small hill. Seeing everything in front of him, Saito gasped.

It was a huge tree, branching out in every direction. It had the size of a mountain. How tall was it? The night covered its top, but it had considerable height.

And then... taking a closer look between the branches, the tree seemed to be holding something even larger. A huge fruit? He was wrong. It was a ship. It looked like a zeppelin, stuck between the trees.

"This is the 'harbor'? And... that's the 'ship'?" Saito asked in shock.

Louise replied in surprise. "Yeah... isn't your world like that?"

"Harbors and ships all stay on water in my world."

"If there are ships that sail on water, there are ships that sail in the air." Louise said matter-of-factly.

Wardes ran to the tree's roots, which were as big and spacious as a skyscraper's lobby. They probably dug the middle out of a dead tree to make this.

It was night, so they couldn't see anyone. Between each flight of stairs were metal panels, with writing of some sort on them. Maybe station signs or something, Saito thought.

Wardes began climbing the stairs in front of him.

One flight of wooden stairs was connected to another. There were scaffolding and supports on them, but they still looked worryingly dangerous. One could see La Rochelle's lights in the spaces between each flight of stairs.

In a rest stop midway, Saito heard footsteps behind them. He turned around, and a shadow jumped, flying over him and landed behind Louise.

It was the white-masked man on Fouquet's golem.

Saito pulled out his sword and cried, "Louise!"

Louise turned around. The man picked her up the next instant.

"Ahhhh-!" Louise screamed. Saito raised his sword. _But if I just slash it like that, I'll hit Louise_. The man carried Louise and jumped much like a acrobat would, his body moving wherever he wished.

Saito stood still, waiting for the moment that he could go after Louise. Beside him, Wardes waved his staff. The masked man was blown away, hit by Wardes' air hammer, and let Louise go. He held on to a support, but Louise fell towards the ground.

In an instant, Wardes jumped off from the platform, and dove towards Louise. He caught up with her and floated in the air while carrying her.

The masked man bent around, jumped on the platform, and faced Saito. He already had his staff out and was chanting. Saito releasing an attack in the form of a crescent moon into his face, dispersing the form before him, but not before he finished a familiar spell.

"'Lightning Cloud'!" Derflinger cried, recognizing the spell this time.

Saito attempting to guard too late, only managing to absorb a minimal amount into the blade. The rest hit his left hand, shocking him.

"Damn it!" Saito cried in pain. His left wrist felt like it was scorched and burned. After the shock subsided, he took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. The amount of damage that spell had caused was at least equal with a low-tier spell ! It might have been able to do some significant damage if he'd been hit more directly with it. All he had was some minor damage that would be repaired in only a short period of time. But damned if it didn't hurt.

"Saito" Louise cried, watching her familiar take such a powerful magic attack. .

Louise struggled out of Wardes' grip and ran to Saito.

Derflinger spoke in concern, "That was 'Lightning Cloud'. Very strong wind magic. I blocked most of it last time, but you were too slow to use me, partner."

"That hurt," Saito said, as he tried to flex his wrist.

Wardes looked to Saito condition. "You were lucky to survive with just your wrist injured. That spell usually kills. Hmm... looks like your sword neutralized some of the current, but I'm not sure why. Isn't the sword made of metal?"

"No idea. I forget." Derflinger replied.

"An intelligent sword, huh. Rare stuff."

"Let's go. It doesn't matter now. I"ll be fine." Saito said, as he motioned for Wardes to lead the way.

Behind the last flight of stairs was a branch. On that branch, a ship... just docked there. It was shaped more like a yacht, perhaps to let it fly. There were wings on the sides. From the ship dangled who-knows-how-many ropes, all tied onto the branches. The branch they were standing on extended all the way to the ship's deck.

They stepped on board, and a sailor sleeping on the deck climbed up. "Hey you! What are you doing?!"

"Where's the captain?"

"He's sleeping. Come back in the morning." The man replied frostily and drunkenly, and drank from his rum bottle.

Wardes did not answer, and pulled his staff out. "You want a noble to repeat what he just said? I said get the captain!"

"A n-noble!" The sailor stood up immediately and ran for the captain's quarters.

After a while, he brought back a sleepy, fifty-something old man with a hat on. He seemed to be the captain. "What do you want?" He looked at Wardes suspiciously.

"Leader of Her Majesty's Mage Guard, Captain Wardes."

The captain's eyes bulged, and he switched to more formal words after learning his identity as a noble of high caliber. "Oh, uh... then, what services may this ship perform for you..."

"Take us to Albion. Depart now."

"Madness!"

"This is upon Her Majesty's orders. Are you going against the Royal Court?"

"I don't know what you're going to Albion for, but we can't depart until morning!"

"Why?"

"Albion's the closest to Tristainia in the morning! We don't have enough wind stones to get there from here right now."

"Wind stones?" asked Saito.

The captain gave him a 'you-don't-know-what-a-wind-stone-is? look and answered "Stones that store wind magic. This ship can't fly without them." He then turned to Wardes. "Your Excellency, this ship only has enough wind stones in store to travel the shortest distance to Albion. If we had more, we could have gone earlier. But for now, we cannot depart. We'll drop out of the sky while halfway there."

"I'll make up for however much you lack in wind stones. I'm a square wind mage."

The captain and his sailors looked at each other. The captain then turned to Wardes and nodded. "Then that's fine. You will have to pay, though."

"What's the cargo?"

"Sulfur. Right now, it's worth its weight in gold. The nobles have increased the price in desperation for security. To have that, gunpowder and fire elements are a must."

"Sell all of that to me at that price." Wardes said simply.

The captain nodded, perhaps with a devious smile. With the deal done, the captain made one order after another. "Leave port! Untie anchors! Set sail!"

The sailors followed orders, all the while complaining under their breath, expertly removing the ropes from the branches, climbing to the securing ropes on both sides, and released the sails.

Without the ties, the ship suddenly sank, and then floated again with the power of the wind stones.

"When can we reach Albion?" Wardes asked.

"We'll arrive at Scarborough Port tomorrow at noon." The captain replied.

Saito looked at the ground from the port side. The "harbor" could be seen between the huge tree's branches. La Rochelle's lights soon faded into darkness. They seemed to be traveling rather fast.

Louise approached Saito, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Saito, are you okay?" She worriedly looked at him.

"Just fine." He pushed her hand away. Louise's face reddened.

"What? But that was a powerful spell! You should be dead!" Louise shouted, seeing as Saito wouldn't even look at her. "And I got all worried about you..."

"I tell you Louise, don't assume the a speel the can kill a human can kill a dragon to, the spell did nothing else than made my hand numb from the shock, in a hour or two my hand will be like new, so don't worry for nothing"

Wardes approached them. "From what I heard from the captain, the Albion Royal Army near Newcastle was completely surrounded and is fighting an uphill battle."

Louise, clearly scared, asked, "What about Prince Wales?"

Wardes shook his head. "I'm not sure. He seems to be alive..."

"Wait... isn't the harbor completely taken over by the rebels?"

"Yeah."

"Then how can we contact the Royal Family?"

"We'll just have to fight our way out. It takes only a day on horseback from Scarborough to Newcastle."

"Fight our way out of the rebels?"

"Right. That's the only choice we have. They can't really openly attack the Tristainian nobility, I think. We'll have to find a chance to break out of their circle and run straight for Newcastle. All we have to think about then is riding in the dark."

Louise anxiously nodded, and asked, "Speaking of which, Wardes, where's your griffin?"

Wardes smiled. He leaned out portside, and whistled. From right under the ship came the sound of the griffin's wings. It landed onto the deck, scaring some of the sailors.

"Can't we just get to Albion on the griffin instead of the ship?" asked Saito

"It's not a dragon. It can't fly that far." Louise answered. She wondered why Saito smirked when she said that.

Saito sat near the mast and closed his eyes. _Looks like we'll be in danger again soon. Oh well... I'll just go to sleep_. he thought. With the talk between Louise and Wardes like a lullaby, he fell asleep.

***Break***

Saito woke up to the sailors' noises and blinding light, and a bright, blue sky in front of him. Looking down the ship, he could see floating clouds. The ship sailed right above them.

"Albion in sight!" the lookout bellowed.

Saito rubbed his sleepy eyes, and looked down again. All there was were clouds. Ground was nowhere to be seen.

Louise, who seemed to have been sleeping beside him, stood up.

"I can't see ground anywhere." Saito complained.

"There?" She pointed up towards the sky.

"Huh?" He followed where she pointed, and gasped in shock. And here he thought he wouldn't be surprised again by this world he was in.

From between the clouds he could see dark land. It continued to expand under them. Mountains carved the landscape, and rivers flowed down them.

"Did that frighten you?" Louise asked him.

"Ah... I've... never seen anything quite like this before." Saito responded. He'd seen floating island in underworld, but not in human world

"Albion, the floating island. It floats in the air, just like that, usually over oceans. However, it passes by over the Halkeginian continent a few times every month. It's about the size of Tristainia, and it's nicknamed 'The White Country'."

"Why 'The White Country'?"

Louise pointed towards the island. "The water from the rivers flow off the island into the air, and while doing so become white fog, covering the bottom part of the island. The fog turn into clouds, which give Halkeginia its rainfall," Louise explained.

'_So Albion of this world is white too, I think some god have a strange sense of humor'_

The lookout yelled again, "Ship approaching starboard side!"

Saito looked towards that direction. A ship was, as he said, approaching, and it was many measures larger than the one they're on. Cannons jutted out of holes on its port side.

"Ah... they even have cannons." Saito spoke his thoughts.

Louise frowned.

"Not good. A rebel... or is that a noble vessel?" Behind deck, Wardes and the captain looked at where the lookout was pointing.

Black paint signaled that the ship was made for war. Twenty or so cannons aimed at them.

"Albionian nobility? Tell us if they ship cargo like we do."

The lookout hoisted the signal flags as the captain told. The black ship did not respond.

The co-captain entered running, his face pale, and reported to the captain, "That ship doesn't have any nationality flags!"

"Then... are they pirates?"

"Can't be wrong! I heard they got really active after the rebellion began..."

"Run! Full speed!" The captain wanted to run from them as quickly as possible, but they were too late. The black ship began to sail parallel to them, and fired a shot directly ahead of them. The black ship's mast then hoisted a four-color signal.

"They're ordering us to stop, captain."

The captain winced in his decision. It's not like his ship was completely unarmed, but all they had were three movable cannons on deck, which were no more useful than decorations when up against a full broadside of over twenty pointed at them. The captain looked at Wardes for help.

"All my magic's used on the ship. We can only do what they say." Wardes answered calmly.

The captain mouthed, "There goes my fortune," and gave the order.

"Wrap sails. Stop the ship."

Louise, seeing the black ship fire a shot, closing in on them, and their ship stopping, held close to Saito, who only uneasily watched the black ship. Why couldn't anything ever just go right?

"We are pirates! Do not resist!" a man on board the black ship yelled with a horn.

"Pirates?" Louise was shocked.

On the black ship's port, men lined up with bows and rifles. They aimed and shot hooked lines, grabbing onto their ship's starboard. More strong men, about ten of them wielding axes and curved sabers, slid over the ropes and onto the ship.

"Saito..." Louise said silently. He heard her, and gripped the handle of his sword. The marks on the back of his left hand glowed. However, Wardes, who somehow appeared behind him, put his hand on his shoulder.

"They're not just armed barbarians, Saito. They have a lot of cannons pointed at us. If you want to live on the battlefield, you've got to accurately measure their strength and yours. They might even have mages on their side."

Wardes' griffin, which was sitting on front of the deck, was also frightened of the pirates and growled. Its head was then covered with blue-white smoke, and it fell onto the deck, fast asleep.

"A sleeping spell... so they do have mages." Wardes affirmed.

At an order, the pirates landed on their ship. One of them was dressed quite exquisitely. He wore a shirt that looked like it used to be white, but was dirtied black from sweat and lubricant. One could see his strong and well-tanned chest muscles in the shirt's openings. A patch covered his left eye. This man seemed to be the pirates' leader.

"Where's the captain?" He commanded in a rough tone, looking around him.

"Me." The captain, shaking but still trying to keep composure, raised his hand.

The leader walked to him in large steps, took out his saber and rapped it at the captain's face. "What's the ship's name and what does it carry?"

"Tristainia's Marie Galante. The cargo is sulfur."

A gasp came from the pirates. The leader laughed, picking up the captain's hat and putting it on his head.

"I'm buying everything on this ship then... the price being your lives!"

The captain shook in shame. Then, the leader noticed Louise and Wardes standing on deck.

"Oho, we have noble guests!" The leader approached Louise and raised her chin with his hand. "We have a beauty here. Would you like to be our dishwasher?"

The men made rough, low laughs. Louise slapped his hand, and glared at him like she was about to explode into flames. "Get off me, you low-life!"

"Oh, she called us low-lives! I'm so scared now!" The men laughed loudly.

Saito wanted to draw his sword, but Wardes stopped him, whispering, "Hey, familiar. You look like you just can't quiet down."

"I've killed more than them before," Saito said coolly.

"What's the use in raising a racket now? Their cannons and arrows would just kill us all." He paused, when Saito still looked as if he would attack the leader of the pirates, then said, "Don't you care about Louise's safety one bit?"

"Alright, boys, take them all away. We can get a hell lot of ransom for this!"

Saito was caught and imprisoned by the pirates. It seemed like the Marie Galante's crew had helped to take over the ship.

Since Saito's sword and Wardes and Louise's wands had been taken, they were allowed to keep their hands and feet unrestrained. Without their wands, mages, just like the weaponless Saito, were harmless, or so they thought.

In the background, one could see wine barrels, cereal sacks and gunpowder casks disorderly thrown around. Heavy cannonballs were piled up in the corner of the room.

Wardes explored the cargo with a great interest.

Saito sat down in the corner of the hold, frowning because of the pain in his injured arm. It was almost healed, but damn this was the worst part of it. Healing electrical damage always sucked, because his body is pretty much fucked up in term of lightning magic or any sort of electrical magic, with a pretty weak defense, even if he can't be killed by this level of magic is enough to give him a serios case of numbness and to heal from something like this will be for lack of better word 'shocking'

Louise looked at Saito with a worried expression after seeing him in such a state. "...What? Just as I thought, the injury hurts after all."

"It's nothing." Saito said snappishly.

"It's not nothing - show me!" Louise forcefully gripped Saito's arm, and looked at his hand. She gasped in shock at how little damage she saw. "How? I was sure it looked worse than this before."

"I heal fast" Saito said simply.

"Oh..." Louise said. "I'm glad. But why make that face?"

"I heal fast but electrical magic give me some problem" Saito said to her. "I appreciate the concern."

An hour or so later, a stocky man came to the door, and passed a bowl through it, saying, "Rice."

When Saito, who was near the door, tried to take the plate of soup the man suddenly lifted the plate up.

"Only after you have answered a few questions"

Louise, whose eyes looked puffy, stood up.

"Ask."

"What business do you have in Albion?"

"Traveling." Louise said.

"You are a Tristain noble, why would you travel to Albion? Why would you be sightseeing in such place?"

"I do not have to tell you such things."

"Still pretending to be tough, despite being scared and crying?"

Louise turned her face away as the pirate started laughing. She grabbed a plate with soup and water to throw at him, but...

Saito took it from her. "Hey!"

"I cannot eat a soup made by such people!"Louise turned her face away again.

"It's not healthy to stay hungry." When Wardes said so, Louise took the plate of soup with a pouting face.

Two people ate the same soup from one plate, though in normal circumstances that would never happen.

"Saito, you need to eat too," Louise said.

"Don't worry I don't need to eat that ofter. You both need your strength more than I do" Saito said in a tone that she couldn't argue with

Wardes leaned onto the wall with a tired expression on his face.

After they had eaten, the door opened again. This time it was a thin pirate standing before them. The pirate looked at the three with piercing eyes and asked.

"Good evening, are you the aristocrats going to Albion?"

Louise did not answer.

"Oi oi, judging from your silence it's true. Although we do not look like that we respect nobles, thanks to the aristocrats our business goes well."

"But, isn't this a warship of rebels?"

"No no, though we are employed, we are involved in the fifty-fifty relationship with both sides. We are related to both factions. So how is it? Are you nobles? If it is true, then you will be let go free in the closest port."

Saito felt relieved. Escapes were always so damned annoying. Since Louise was an aristocrat everything could be settled peacefully then.

Louise, however, did not nod her head in agreement and kept on glaring at the pirate's forehead instead.

"How dare you have anything to do with those dirty rebels? Do not disregard Albion nobles. I myself am one of the noble families. Albion is still a kingdom, as the royal family is still a legitimate government in Albion. Because I am an aristocrat who comes here on behalf of Tristain, I am, in other words, an ambassador. Therefore, I demand an ambassador's treatment from you."

The pirate laughed after her little speech. "I'll go to report to the Boss then."

The pirate left laughing.

The door opened again, it was the same thin pirate.

"The boss calls."

The aisle passed up the narrow stairs and took the three to a splendid room built on the upper part of the deck.

The Boss... apparently, the chief of the pirates.

As the door opened, one could see a gorgeous dinner table and a pirate sitting at its end, playing with a cane that had big crystal attached on top of it. Seemingly, he was a mage himself. The Boss' room was very different from what one would expect from a pirate.

He looked intensively at Louise who entered the room. The thin pirate who had brought her there poked her slightly from behind. "Hey, you, you are standing in front of the Boss, so greet him properly." However, Louise just stood there glaring at the Boss as he smiled at her.

"Ah, I like a strong willed woman, you are not a child at all."

"I demand the treatment of an ambassador."

Louise, not paying attention to the Boss' words, repeated her demand.

"And what would be that message you are trying to give?"Asked the Boss as he ignored Louise's words."And did you say royal?"

"Yes, I did."

"Are you going to Newcastle? They will be gone tomorrow." The pirate said with a cold air of indifference.

"I won't tell you."

But the Boss spoke to Louise in a joyful voice. "Are you willing to betray the nobles? Otherwise, even if you are a mage I might not guarantee your safety even for considerable fee."

"I'd rather die."

"I'll ask you again. Are you willing to betray the nobles?"

Louise looked straight ahead. She crossed her arms, and put out her chest. However, Saito interrupted her before she could open her mouth."She told her answer already."

"And who are you?"

The Boss looked at Saito with a piercing glare. But Saito looked straight at the Boss, just like Louise did.

"A familiar."

"Familiar?" the boss looked bewildered. "A human?"

"Seems so."

The Boss started laughing. He laughed loudly.

"I knew that Tristainan nobles were weird but not so helplessly. Oh my, my stomach hurts." Said the Boss as he stood up laughing. Saito and the others were puzzled by the sudden change of atmosphere and looked at each other.

"Oh, I am sorry. As a noble I should properly introduce myself as well."

The pirate who was laughing loudly suddenly stood up straight.

He removed his black curly hair from his head. It seemed to be a wig. He also took off the black eye patch, and also removed his fake beard. Before them now was standing a young person with blond hair.

"I am a general of the Albion Royal Air Force and also the commander of our country fleet. Though to tell the truth this warship named "Eagle" is the only ship in our fleet. A powerless fleet. Oh dear, even people from the street could easily beat it." The young person bowed while introducing himself. "I am the prince of the Albion's Kingdom, Wales Tudor."

Louise's mouth opened wide and Saito couldn't take his eyes from the surprising appearance of the young prince of Albion. Wardes watched the prince with great interest.

Wales smiled with a charming smile and moved a chair for Louise to sit.

"Welcome to Albion, Ambassador. Now, let's talk about your message."

However, Louise was still speechless. She just stood there dumbfounded, unable to move.

"Why do I dress up as a pirate? To hide myself? No, the rich rebels sent a lot of support to the rebellion, and it is a basic war tactic to cut enemy's supply line. It was necessary so I had to dress myself like an undignified dirty pirate."Wales said laughing.

"No, it was really impolite to treat an ambassador like that. But you have to admit you don't look much like a royal messenger yourself. And I never thought about support from other country's nobles. Yet I still should apologize." Even after Wales' words, Louise's mouth still kept opening and closing without uttering a single sound. She hadn't been mentally prepared to meet the prince so suddenly.

"We brought a secret letter from Her Highness Princess Henrietta." Wardes said while gracefully bowing.

"Ohh, from Her Highness. And you are?"

"Captain of Tristain's Griffin Knights, Viscount Wardes." After that, Wardes introduced Louise to Wales.

"And this is the ambassador sent by Her Highness from the Vallière family and her familiar, Your Highness."

"Indeed! Such a splendid noble. And I only have my ten bodyguards to greet you, such a miserable greeting. Then, do you still have the secret letter?"

Louise panicking took out Henrietta's letter from her clothes. However, she stopped before giving it to Wales. After a few moments of hesitation she opened her mouth.

"B-but..."

"What?"

"Excuse me, but are you really a prince?"

Wales laughed. "Oh dear, you won't believe me even if I showed you my true face. I am Wales. And I am really a prince. I will show evidence then." Wales said after seeing the water ruby ring shining on Louise's finger.

Louise's hand was taken and the ring that shone on a finger was removed. The prince brought it close to his ruby ring. The two rings reacted to each other, shining with a bright light.

"This ring belongs to the Albion royal family, the ruby of the Wind, while that one belongs to Henrietta from Tristain royal family and is the ruby of the Water. Am I right?"

Louise nodded.

"Water and the wind make the rainbow. A rainbow which is formed between royal families."

"True, I am sorry for my impoliteness."

Louise handed Wales the letter and bowed.

After looking at the letter lovingly, Wales kissed the signature. Then, the seal was carefully removed, the paper inside was taken out, and Wales began to read.

For some time he kept on reading it with serious expression.

"Is the princess marrying? That beautiful Henrietta. My beloved... cousin."

Wardes bowed silently, with an affirmative expression. Wales dropped the glance to the letter again and smiled when the last line was read.

"Understood. The princess is informing me with this that she wants you to return that letter. And more importantly, the princess also hopes that I return a letter from her. Seems like it."

Louise's face beamed with pleasure.

"However, it's not in my hands right now. It's in the castle in Newcastle. I didn't want to bring the princess' letter to this pirate ship." Wales said laughingly.

"So, even though it's troublesome, please come with me to Newcastle."

* * *

Here chapter 10 enjoy.

Next chapter Saito will destroy some battle ship, a little army of 5000or more soldier and mage and maybe i will make Vanishing Dragon appear or i put Saito enter in Juggernaut Drive, i'm not sure yet, some help with this choice is welcome or if you have some good ideas you can tell me.

Review if you like and want more chapter.

Chapter 11 in a month or faster if i see that there are people who want to see the next chapter appearing earlier.

**TILL NEXT TIME!**


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